Cole Reed will graduate from Crothersville High School on Friday night.
Submitted photo
From Math Bowl and Spell Bowl in elementary to Academic Super Bowl in junior high and high school, Cole Reed has always liked academic activities.
In high school, he was inducted into National Honor Society and also joined English Club, Science Club and the yearbook staff and was selected vice president of his class.
Plus, on top of his regular schoolwork, he added college-level courses by enrolling in The University Academy, which allowed him to earn an associate degree in general studies from Ivy Tech Community College at no cost.
“It has always been something that interested me because I’ve done pretty well in school, and my teachers have recommended me for those things, just the pursuit of knowledge, learning things that I normally wouldn’t otherwise,” Reed said of his academic extracurricular activities.
On Friday night, he will wrap up his academic career by earning an Academic Honors Diploma from Crothersville High School.
“It’s very exciting, definitely get a lot more freedom,” he said. “It’s also bittersweet. The community, it’s a small school, you know everyone here. I like my class a lot.”
Reed has always attended Crothersville schools.
At six years, Academic Super Bowl was his longest extracurricular activity. In 2022, he was on the English team that qualified for the state finals. The only other time Crothersville had a team do that was in 2002 with fine arts.
“It was fun,” Reed said. “We were the first team that has gone in so many years. It was an interesting experience, for sure.”
He was a member of the English and social studies teams over the years.
“I like English a lot, I like literature and history kind of ties into English a lot, so I was just drawn to that, too,” he said.
Reed was a member of English Club and Science Club all four years of high school.
“The main thing we try to do is get more books for the library,” he said of the English Club’s fundraisers. “We have a writing contest. Students are encouraged to make their own material. I haven’t submitted anything for the writing contest, but I’ve done a lot of judging for it.”
Science Club involved field trips to places like science museums, he said.
For three years, Reed was in National Honor Society and on the yearbook staff.
He said National Honor Society organizes a blood drive each year, and he gained community service and leadership experience in the organization. He served as treasurer this school year.
Also this year, he has served as editor of the yearbook.
“I’ve taken a lot of pictures and just gotten some interviews,” Reed said. “A lot of it is actually the design of the yearbook, so I helped with what it looks like. I just like preserving the school history. A lot of people see the yearbook.”
Reed is wrapping up his second year as vice president of the Class of 2023, which is another leadership role.
On May 13, Reed was one of seven class members who earned an associate degree from Ivy Tech. He said that was a big accomplishment.
“Early college, it has been a little bit of a challenge keeping up with all of the other schoolwork in addition to that, but I think that’s fantastic. You just get free college completely paid for. It was a no-brainer for me to do that,” he said. “Going out of high school with my associate degree, that’s just amazing.”
After high school, Reed wants to pursue a job in the journalism field with an ultimate goal of writing for an organization.
“I got accepted into a few universities, and I ended up declining it, so I’m just going to see what happens and what feels right after this year,” he said. “In terms of writing, I think I’m good at the storytelling side of things a lot. I think I can get people’s interest in a story. I would definitely like to work on my social skills a little bit. I’ve worked on it a lot this year. I’ve gotten a lot better.”
Reed file
Name: Cole Reed
Age: 18
Residence: Crothersville
School: Crothersville High School
Activities/organizations: Academic Super Bowl, English Club, Science Club, National Honor Society (treasurer), yearbook staff (editor), Class of 2023 vice president
Future plans: Pursue a job in the journalism field
Family: Parents, Mark and Kelly Reed; sister, Tori Reed
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If you go
What: Crothersville High School graduation
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Gymnasium at Crothersville High School, 109 N. Preston St., Crothersville
Who: 25 members of the Class of 2023