Congratulations to Monica Hardy and Marley Alexander for earning for earning salutatorian and valedictorian of the 2016 class of Broad Ripple High School!

Monica was born and raised here in Broad Ripple. In fact, she's lived in the same house since she was just two years old.

"When I was young I liked to color, play games, have tea parties and go on picnics in the park. My parents always made sure that my siblings and I were close. I have an older sister named Jasmine, older brother named Courtney, and a twin sister named Monique." Hardy explained.

She also picked up music from a young age. "We went to church regularly and were always in music lessons. Practicing was never fun but I'm glad I was able to take music lessons and now I actually play my electric bass every Sunday at church."

Monica contributes her scholarly success to her family, noting they provided lots of support and inspiration by doing well in school. "I had a lot of help along the way from my family. They were always so supportive whether that meant coming to games, performances, or helping me prepare for class presentations."

Marley Alexander is also an Indianapolis native, however, her story is a little more complicated. "I was born in Indianapolis, although I moved to Topeka, Kansas as a baby. We lived there until I was six, then moved back to Indiana. Between first and third grade, we moved several times and I switched schools each year." She said. "I lived in Greenfield when I began my freshman year at Broad Ripple. My junior year, I moved to Anderson, but I continued my high school career at Broad Ripple."

Although she lived 45 minutes away from Broad Ripple High school, she commuted everyday. "I could not bring myself to leave Broad Ripple. I chose BR for its learning environment and dance program, and I cannot imagine having to leave that."

Monica and Marley have very different interests, but they were both extremely involved with the BR high school community.

Monica explained, "My favorite class was Biology, meaning the study of life, because life/nature has always been very interesting to me. Also, I was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities like Student Government, National Honors Society, Rocket Mentoring, Cheerleading, Tennis, Cross Country, and Softball."

Marley has also been involved with countless extracurriculars, with her main specialty being dance. "I participated in Student Council as the Junior Class Vice President and Senior Class President, National Honor Society as the Secretary my junior year and President my senior year, a Model United Nations team that made a yearly trip to Boston, Massachusetts serving as Captain my senior year, Brain Game serving as Captain my senior year, Rocket Mentoring, Humanities Advisory Council, Prom Committee, and community service outreach," Marley said.

"I have been dancing since I was three years old. Ballet is by far my favorite, although I take several forms of dance classes. I was highly involved in dance classes in and out of school, including teaching a ballet class."

These two hard working individuals can all take the credit for their accomplishments, although they had lots of help and support along the way

"I had a lot of help along the way from my family. They were always so supportive whether that meant coming to games, performances, or helping me prepare for class presentations." Monica said.

"I certainly had a lot of help along the way from many people, including my classmates, teachers, and parents. Two teachers that were especially impactful were Joshua Pierson and Lou DeBruicker; they were always there to support me no matter what I needed, from study tips to encouragement." Explained Marly.

In the fall, Monica is going to University of Indianapolis for Art Education while also taking Pre-Vet course requirements. Marley is going to Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky to study Exercise Science and Pre-Physical Therapy, with a goal to go onto a Doctorate in Physical Therapy.

These girls have surely been great role models to the Broad Ripple community, and we wish them luck as they further their education.

"I have always been inspired by education itself," Marley explained. "I know that may sound a little silly, but I have always strove to learn as much as I can -- just to learn. Education cannot be taken away from you; your own mind is the only thing you have full jurisdiction over in this world. In that way of thought, education has always been of utmost importance to me, to have the opportunity to be Valedictorian of Broad Ripple High School has been a very rewarding experience in my educational goals."