By Valerie Franchi, Contributing Writer
Region – There are some people who make the rest of us seem like underachievers. Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School senior Kayleigh Stevens is one of those people. The drafting and design student has a list of accomplishments a mile long and keeps adding to that list. On a typical day, she is at school until 9 p.m. and many nights she barely has time to sleep.
In addition to her rigorous academic schedule – including taking an extra class – she is captain of the Math Team, a member of the Robotics Club, National Honor Society and Principal’s Leadership Team, plays softball, recently auditioned for the Drama Club’s next production, and accepted a part-time job.
“Everyone asks me: ‘How do you fit all these things in?’” Stevens said.
With all her activities, she still manages to keep up a social life, attending school functions such as the recent homecoming.
As captain of the 32-member Varsity Math Team, Stevens was tasked by her engineering teacher Chuck DuPont to “whip the team into shape.”
She took the job seriously, initiating online practice for team members which allowed the team to strategize and become more competitive. She also met with the Math Department to ask for extra credit for team members as an incentive to join. They agreed to add two points to members’ final grade.
“Kayleigh does a lot for the school,” DuPont emphasized. “She will take on any challenge. She is committed and dedicated to everything she takes on.”
The team’s first meet was Oct. 8 in Leicester.
“She relishes in competition,” DuPont added. “She doesn’t want a trophy just for participating. Not winning just makes her try harder, so she will do better next time.”
Stevens also participates in numerous academic and engineering competitions and leadership organizations, including Skills USA.
“She’s a born leader,” DuPont said.
Stevens is one of the growing number of female students who are choosing a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) field. And it almost didn’t happen.
She attended grade school in Marlborough where she grew up. In sixth grade, as part of the city’s push to introduce STEM in middle school, “I was forced to take an engineering class and loved it,” Stevens recalled. She chose Assabet Valley because of its engineering program.
Before that, “I wanted to be a ballerina,” Stevens said. She took dance classes up to age 10 before realizing that “I was too short and had the wrong body type.”
She still has the opportunity to express her artistic side through the Drama Club; last year she acted in “The Little Mermaid.” In this year’s production of “Aladdin,” she auditioned for the role of Genie, typically a male role. But that did not deter Stevens in the least.
She has the same gender-blind outlook when it comes to her chosen discipline.
“Any girl can do whatever she wants to do, even in a male-dominated field,” she said.
At Assabet Valley, Stevens has a host of female peers that are proving that statement – about half of the Robotics Team and a third of the Math Team are girls.
Stevens, who moved to Shrewsbury from Marlborough in June, plans to attend a four-year college majoring in architecture and civil engineering.
“My first choice is Princeton University,” she said, adding that she hopes to become a manager in an engineering firm. She noted that her parents support her “100 percent.”
“She will be missed next year,” DuPont said. “She is a very valuable part of Assabet?. It will be hard to replace her sense of organization.”