Since she stepped foot upon Sunlake High School’s campus four years ago, Jillian Gordy has strived to make a difference within her school and community.
She’s spearheaded new school traditions.
She’s been involved in numerous clubs and service organizations.
And, she’s managed to maintain a 4.0-plus grade point average.
The 18-year-old’s efforts have not gone unnoticed.
Last month, the young woman from Lutz was named Pasco County Schools’ 2018-2019 Outstanding Senior Award.
The award is given on the basis of academic record, service, leadership, citizenship, and evidence of commitment to school and community. Students considered for the award are nominated by the student body, principals, faculty and staff. Nominees from each high school in Pasco are then interviewed by a panel of administrators who ultimately narrow the selection to one student to represent the school district.
Gordy said she was surprised to even be nominated for the senior award because she only takes one class on Sunlake’s campus.
She takes the rest of her senior classes off-campus at Pasco-Hernando State College.
“I’m just really honored to be able to represent Sunlake, and honored to be named for this award,” the 18-year-old said in a recent interview with The Laker/Lutz News. “I wasn’t really expecting it.”
What she lacks in classroom time at Sunlake, Gordy makes up for in student involvement.
She serves as executive student body president and has been an officer in student government for four years.
In the senior leadership role, she’s already helped enact two new traditions at Sunlake.
Within the first few months of her term, Gordy persuaded school administration to enable seniors and school staff to paint their parking spots as a way to encourage school spirit.
While a relatively common practice for many other high schools, it marked a first for Sunlake.
“I was really proud of seeing that come to fruition,” Gordy said. “People don’t like their spots being taken in the morning, so this was something that the kids really looked forward to and the staff really loved, and it was really a morale boost.”
Her other tradition? Making goodie bags for incoming freshman during orientation.
Gordy refers to the goodie bags as “survival kits.” They contain applications for clubs, athletic information and homecoming information. The idea is to encourage new students to get involved.
“I wish that all schools could do that because it gives everyone a chance to get involved and no one can say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know about that club in freshman year,’” Gordy said.
Besides being involved in student government, Gordy also is president of the French Honor Society and French Club.
Her mother’s family is French-Canadian, she said, noting, “I was kind of connecting with my roots through French Honor Society and learning about French culture.”
Gordy also is a member of the National Honor Society and class director of Sunlake’s Key Club, a volunteer and service organization.
She’s racked up more than 450 volunteer hours through Key Club.
During her sophomore year, she led the club’s first Toys for Tots gift drive. (Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve, which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas.)
During that effort, she asked her peers to bring in more gifts for teenagers, after noticing that youths ages 13 to 17 are often overlooked by donors.
Gordy became a volunteer with Toys for Tots when she was just 5. She credits her mom, Carol, for getting her involved.
“My mom has really influenced me to be a volunteer for life and really dedicate my life to service,” Gordy said.
Over the years, Gordy said she noticed that most of the gifts provided for teenagers involve sporting equipment, such as basketballs and footballs.
To help improve the situation, she made a donation list for fellow Key Club members, asking for gifts such as books, science kits, art supplies and beauty products.
She’s continued the initiative ever since, and is now working with Kiwanis of Greater West Pasco to expand awareness and increase donations for teens.
Gordy underscored the importance of addressing that issue: “Those are the children that are usually taking care of their younger siblings, and they’re more of like a parental figure, and so we really need to take care of them during the holiday season.”
Because of her work with Toys for Tots, Gordy received the Anne Frank Humanitarian Award last year. The award is presented by the Florida Holocaust Museum to one junior in each of the public and private high schools in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Sarasota and Manatee counties.
Besides her service and leadership qualities, Gordy’s academic achievements are admirable, too.
She’s been named to the All-As Academic Honor Roll every year of high school.
She won the AP Scholar Award for getting 5s — the highest score possible—on every AP exam she took.
She also earned the Science Achievement Award in AP Environmental Science as a sophomore.
In addition to her AP course load, Gordy has been taking dual enrollment courses since her sophomore year — earning 35 college credits to date. She was also awarded the English Achievement Award for dual enrollment as a sophomore and junior, and made the PHSC Honor Roll both semesters of the 2017-2018 school years.
Gordy credits much of her success to her teachers at Sunlake and PHSC.
“My teachers have been amazing,” Gordy said. “I’ve learned so much from my classes and they’ve really shaped me as a person, and they shaped what I want to go into.”
That also includes her mother — who is a marine science teacher at Sunlake.
Gordy noted education was “very, very emphasized” in the family’s household.
“She definitely taught me the meaning of education and how important it is,” Gordy said, “and how much that education can influence others, as well as yourself, and how everything can be achieved through education. I definitely learned to love school and to love learning through her.”
Gordy said she’s still undecided on which college she plans to attend. But, her sights are on becoming a civil engineer and working for Engineers Without Borders, a nonprofit humanitarian organization that assists developing communities worldwide with engineering projects.
Reflecting on her high school career, Gordy is appreciative of the level of support she’s received from the Sunlake teachers and administration.
She’s also grateful for the numerous opportunities afforded to her through school clubs and other organizations.
“The amount of school spirit at Sunlake when I was a freshman was so amazing that I wanted to be more involved,” Gordy said. “I just wanted to be part of like the change at our school.”
Published December 12, 2018
