Charles Simmons Named Pickens High's Valedictorian

Pickens High School has named Charles Simmons valedictorian, Emily Lawson as salutatorian and Wesley Bratcher as Most Improved Student of the class of 2013.

Simmons has been accepted to the Calhoun Honors College at Clemson University and plans to major in biochemistry before pursuing medical school.

“I guess the reason I want to go into medicine is that it's kind of a family tradition,” he said, noting that his sister is a nursing major, his uncle is a doctor, and his grandfather was a pediatrician.

“I would also say that Mr. Ned Steadman, my tenth grade chemistry teacher, had a big influence on me wanting to go into biochemistry,” he said.

Simmons said some of his best memories in high school came on the soccer field. “

Seeing kids coming up behind me and improving the way I did is special,” he said.

Lawson plans to attend North Greenville University in the fall. She will carry on a

family tradition in education by majoring in Early Childhood Education(her mother, Tracy, is a teacher, and her father, Marion, is the principal at PHS).

“I always thought that would be what I wanted to do when I was little, but I was really sure after last summer. I kept praying about it, and taught Bible school at my church. I felt like that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” she said. She said her first grade teacher, Karen Sharpe, was a big influence on her. “I want to have the kind of impact on kids that my first, second and third grade teachers had on me.”

She said one of her most memorable and rewarding experiences in high school was running on the school’s cross country team, because of the discipline she learned through the sport.

Bratcher plans to enlist in the U.S. Army after graduation, carrying on a family tradition of his own.

“Just about everybody has been in there,from my uncle up to my cousins,”he said. He said he intends to specialize in diesel mechanics.

He said he was recommended for the Most Improved Student Award by his English teacher, Angela Lucas. “She helped with everything,” he said. “If you were behind, she would give you that little push to help you keep on keeping on.” He said she was key in helping him turn his high school career around.

“My freshman year, I didn't give a care about anything. I was just living it up because I was in high school and I started falling off my sophomore year,” he said. “My junior year I just decided I have to do what I have to do to be my best and succeed in life.”

Pickens High School's Class of 2013 will graduate at 3pm Saturday, June 1 at Littlejohn Coliseum.

There are 300 members in this year's graduating class.