The Red Bay High School valedictorian for the graduating class of 2025 is Darby Blansett.
"This was always a goal for me," Blansett said. "It was something I always knew that I wanted, so I worked really hard to get it."
Besides finishing at the top of her class academically, Blansett, daughter of Dickey and Lashay Blansett, was serially involved in clubs and extracurricular activities during her time at RBHS. Blansett participated in various extracurriculars like annual staff, Beta Club, English Club, Future Business Leaders of America, tennis, track and field, band, HOSA, Spanish Club, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, among others, and she was also the class reporter for her class.
In leadership roles, Blansett served as treasurer of the Beta Club and chairman of FCA.
Among those, Blansett said her favorite activity was tennis—"It was a lot of fun," she said—but one of her favorite memories from high school came from playing trumpet in the band.
For three years, Blansett, who served as drum major her senior year, played "Taps" at Tiger football games. She said it was an honor to be able to perform the patriotic call.
"It's a special memory because I did it for three years and I got very nervous about it, but looking back on it it's something I'm very glad I got to do," she said. "It was a big honor that I got to do it."
Back to the book work: Most of the schoolwork came easily for Blansett (besides that one bugger of a subject, history). But the one subject she really embraced was mathematics. Blansett's love for the subject was only increased thanks to one teacher in particular, Amber Thorn, who inspired Blansett and can take some credit for pushing the valedictorian towards her desired career path.
"She was my math teacher my junior year, and she made a big impact on my life," she said. "She helped encourage me, and she's the reason I'm going into the major that I'm going into which is math education."
Blansett will be attending the University of North Alabama in the fall to further her education and will be aided by a band scholarship, an ACT scholarship, and an honors college scholarship. Her ultimate goal, while trying to stay within a couple hours of her hometown, is to become a college math professor.
Looking back on her time at Red Bay High School, Blansett said she learned one thing that she will take with her—and it's a good piece of advice, whether you're a high school senior or a senior citizen:
"Other people's opinions of you don't matter, and you don't have to fit in or fit the mold that other people want to create for you because you can create your own mold," she said. "You don't need to change yourself to fit with the other people around you because God made you with your own gifts and identity, so just be who you want to be."
