Teaching tots grad's passion

Future should be child's play

Pampa High School senior Lindsey Riley has overcome many obstacles for the chance to attend college.

She plans to enroll at Abilene Christian University in the fall and major in early childhood education, Riley said. She wants to be an elementary school teacher.

"I've always loved kids and I've always been drawn to help kids," Riley said.

Riley works at St. Matthews Day School, watching and helping children at the day care center learn about different things.

"I've just grown up around kids," Riley said.

Riley will graduate at 10 a.m. May 31 at Harvester Field in Pampa.

Helping children has always been Riley's passion, and to do that, she said she needed to go to college.

To pay for college, Riley said she had to earn good grades and applied for many scholarships.

Starla Kindle, a counselor at Pampa High School, is proud that Lindsey is graduating in the top 10 percent of her class.

"She's an outstanding young woman," Kindle said.

Riley's story reinforces the fact that through hard work and dedication, a person can succeed no matter what the circumstances, Kindle said.

"She's really, really an inspiration for me and everyone at the high school, because she's not letting anything stand in her way," Kindle said.

Many family members have helped Riley along the way, including her grandpa and grandma, who raised her.

Riley credits them with pushing her to complete high school, achieve good grades and earn college scholarships.

"I just keep thinking that I want to make myself proud, but I want them to feel very extremely proud of me," Riley said. "I want them to be proud of me and know that I did not let them down."

It's been really difficult keeping up her grades, said Riley.

"I was determined not to become another statistic," she said.

Celebrate Education is a yearlong community project to encourage lifelong learning and help raise the education level in the Texas Panhandle.