HEADING THE CLASS of 2010 at Fairfield high school are valedictorian Lilly Duarte and salutatorian Adam Chappell. By taking advanced level classes, four members of the Fairfield high school senior class have broken the barrier of the 5.0 grade scale that indicates perfect grades.

Taking grades to the highest level are the 2010 valedictorian Lilly Duarte and salutatorian Adam Chappell—-Miss Duarte posted a 5.67 GPA and Chappell earned a 5.52.

The FHS Class of 2010 features 33 honor graduates, students who earned grade points of 4.0, or better, over four years.

Students who topped the 5.0 mark, in addition to the valedictorian and salutatorian, are Kaitlyn Palmquist, 5.14, and Daniel Wood, 5.05.

Rounding out the list of honor graduates are: Lando Duarte, 4.94; Jaymi McLeod, 4.91; Morgan Fuller, 4.88; John Horton, 4.66; Haley Plemons, 4.62; Lauren Jackson, 4.58; Kalyn Caffey, 4.57; Kayse Kirgan, 4.56; Sally Taylor, 4.5; Riley Jo Davidson, 4.49; McKenzie Beddingfield, 4.49; Jessica Gallegos, 4.47; Colby Green, 4.46; Mia Mayo, 4.45;

Rebecca Lyles, 4.44; Evan Simpson, 4.42; Adam Rhoads, 4.41; Cally Hardwick, 4.29; Sarah Linton, 4.27; Taylor Edwards-Adcock, 4.17; Shekinah Davidson, 4.15; Cheyenne Newman, 4.14; Cortney Kahrs, 4.11; Spencer Higgins, 4.11; Whitney Roberson, 4.11; Robb McCully, 4.09; Reagan Amick, 4.09; Amber Lehman, 4.07; and Ravi Patel, 4.01.

About 125 FHS senior students are slated to cross the stage in graduation exercises set for 8 p.m. Friday, June 4, at Eagle Field.

Miss Duarte, 18, started attending school in Fairfield as an eighth grade student when her family moved here, and Chappell is a Fairfield native who started school here in kindergarten.

Both students head south on I-35 in fall for college— Miss Duarte will attend Southwestern University at Georgetown and Chappell will attend the University of Texas at Austin.

The valedictorian has been ranked first in her class all four years at FHS.

She reports that mathematics and science classes were her favorite classes in high school because they are challenging, and because there is only one correct answer when a problem is solved.

“I think writing is hard, and hard to grade,” the valedictorian says.

Miss Duarte plans on majoring in a science or mathematics field in college, such as biomedicine, but points out that she will not make a final decison until after taking several courses.

During her years at FHS, Miss Duarte was a top competitor in cross country and track. As a senior she advanced to the state cross country meet and the region track meet as a distance runner.

Miss Duarte is the 2009 FHS homecoming queen and chamber of commerce “Youth Citizen of the Year,” and was presented the “Spirit of Fairfield High School” award as a junior student.

She competed in University Interscholastic League academic competition in newswriting and ready writing this spring, and in past years competed in mathematics.

The valedictorian is the daughter of Sharon and Richard Heard and attends New Hope Baptist Church.

Miss Duarte and her twin brother, Lando, have received academic scholarships to Southwestern and both plan on running track and cross country on university teams. Lando Duarte is ranked fifth in the senior class with a 4.94 GPA.

Chappell is considering an electrical engineering major at UT because the field provides more choices than computer science, an earlier major he had contemplated. But, his final decision will come after some time at college.

“I might find something else I like better,” he says.

This spring he competed in UIL academics as a member of the Fairfield computer science team that won district and advanced to a third place finish at state.

Chappell, 18, also prefers mathematics and science classes because he enjoys the challenge of solving problems.

“You know whether you are right or wrong,” he notes.

He chose to attend UT after a campus visit. UT also provides an extra incentive in that he could seek an internship at any of several computer and electronics firms headquartered in the area.

Chappell is the son of Mike and Carol Chappell.

The two top FHS students report that they found their freshmen and sophomore years the most difficult, and that their junior and senior years proved challenging as they took advanced level classes.

Those advanced level classes give them a head start in college—-Chappell earned 26 hours of college credit through dual credit courses offered at FHS, and Miss Duarte earned 18 hours.

Miss Duarte and Chappell report that they were not reluctant to ask their teachers for extra tutoring, and spent many hours studying together to work out assignments.

“It’s a lot easier when you have a different perspective. We kind of fill in those gaps for each other,” Chappell says.

The valedictorian and salutatorian each must make a speech at commencement, something they are approaching with a fair amount of dread.

“We’re both kind of nervous about giving a speech,” Miss Duarte says.