By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Recently the Brighton High School corridor main bulletin board was decorated with 10 photos.
The pictures represent the best of the best minds for the Class of 2019. The BHS top 10 for this year consist of Valedictorian Dustie Flowers, (grade point average 4.0, ACT 33), Salutatorian Kozy Hubbard (GPA 4.0, ACT 32, Numerical Core Average 97.724), Historian Meagan Barnett (GPA 4.0, ACT 32, Numerical Core Average 96.714), No. 4 Austin Russell (GPA 4.0, ACT 31), No. 5 Cade Forbes (GPA 4.0, ACT 30, Numerical Core Average 97.50), No. 6 Grace Ann Stewart (GPA 4.0, ACT 30, Numerical Core Average 96.9285), No. 7 Samuel Stewart (GPA 4.0, ACT 29), No. 8 Autumn Bolin (GPA 4.0, ACT 28) No. 9 Morgan Medders (GPA 3.9818, ACT 32) and No. 10 Riley Clark (GPA 3.9818, ACT 29).
The name on top of the list belongs to the daughter of mother Cassie Bergeron and father Jamie Flowers. Moving from a small town in Arkansas to Tipton County about 5 years ago, the girl named Dustie has carved herself a legacy at Brighton High School.
“That’s my Dad and I have no idea why he named me Dustie,” Flowers said. “He just liked the name. He just met someone named Dusty and said, ‘I really like that name. I’m going to name my kid that.’
“It’s pretty great to put that name in history, I’ve always worked really hard in school,” she continued. “I’ve always been someone who pressured myself to be the best at what I do. It’s rewarding to say I’m the best and I worked hard with it paying off.”
Flowers shared the stage with her nine other peers for a photo day with The Millington Star.
Each having a different journey to being the best of 2019, Flowers has built a bond with her classmates through the Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, Knowledge Bowl and being a section leader in the BHS Band.
“It’s been good, Brighton Band was definitely one of the best things about high school for me,” she said. “Being involved helps out a lot with the college stuff. But band was the biggest part.
“I know it’s not a big town but it’s a lot bigger than where I came from,” Flowers added. “I had to adjust to being at a bigger school and more challenging classes.”
With plans to attend The University of Memphis to major in Biomedical Engineering, Flowers currently is a manager at the Millington Chick Fil A.
Developing her customer service skills, Flowers will have to use her public speaking ability May 16 on the campus of Brighton High School to deliver her valedictorian speech.
“It’s a little scary but it’s nice to be recognized (by the media),” Flowers said. “Maybe it will help out in the future with me being in all these newspapers and publications.
“It’s very nerve-racking but I am excited I get to do the speech,” she continued. “I know my Mom is going to be filming it. She’s going to be super proud. I am not a public speaker in any sense. But I think it will be good practice for the future since I’ll probably have to speak a lot more in the future.”
Blooming as a leader at BHS, Flowers plans on taking more seeds and planting them in the dust to continue to produce fruitful seeds.
“I am going to go to The University of Memphis and at least get my master’s degree in biomedical engineering,” she concluded. “I either want to own my own firm or be a leader in somebody else’s engineering firm and create new medical devices.”
