Senior Spotlight ~ Bailey McCarthy

What are some of your proudest accomplishments during your time at Greeley?
Some of my proudest accomplishments during my time at Greeley have included creating the ACCESS Club to help students with disabilities work on their social and communication skills to help them feel more engaged in our school community; being one of the managers of this year’s Unified Basketball Team; performing principal roles in Greeley theater productions while acting as a role model in my position as Father of Theater; playing drums in Greeley’s Stage Band and being one of our Band Presidents; winning the most spirited award by the PTA during the pandemic for a short film I made with my siblings; and my work as one of only two student board members for New Castle’s EPIC Committee to help promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in our community where I created a summer basketball-buddy program and an inclusive student film festival.

What are your plans for next year?
Next year, I will be attending Amherst College in Massachusetts. I plan on majoring in Film and Media Studies. I also hope to continue to be involved in theater and jazz band.

Share a favorite memory from your time in the District.
One of my favorite memories from my time in the District was co-hosting third-grade assemblies with my brother about the importance of inclusion. For National Inclusive Schools Week this past December, we presented at each of our District’s elementary schools. It was heartwarming to see how engaged the students were in the topic and how thoughtful their questions for us were.

I was especially moved by our presentation at our old elementary school, Westorchard, where they had a sign language interpreter for a student who was deaf. That student came up to my brother, who has Down syndrome, at the end of our presentation and gave him a pencil and some stickers to thank us for coming. I hope the tools we presented to that student's classmates will help to make them feel as included throughout their school years as my brother felt with his classmates when he was in school.

What do you hope to be remembered for by your teachers or peers?
I hope to be remembered by my teachers and my peers for my empathy, sense of humor, and good nature. I hope my friends remember me as someone who brought a little light and levity to their day.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?
In ten years, I hope I’m still putting a smile on people’s faces and doing what I can to make everyone feel welcome and like they belong. My dream job would be making movies where a person with a disability was just as likely to be cast in a leading role as their able-bodied peers. Whatever it is that I’m doing, I hope I’m spending at least part of every day laughing and helping those around me find something to smile about, too.

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Congratulations to Bailey and the Class of 2023!