Hailey Jordan is Valedictorian at O'Hara

The following was published in the Kansas City Star:
   At just 16 years old, Hailey Jordan graduated from Archbishop O’Hara High School on Sunday. She was the valedictorian and the first minority student at the high school to graduate at the top of her class.
   “I wanted to cut the barriers of race and all that and show other kids that they can do it,” Jordan told FOX 4 News.
   She wants to inspire others because she said it was her own role model that led her to achieve greatness.
   “It has to be my family and mostly my mom. She’s inspired me to do well to do my best all my life,” Jordan explained. “Through all the hard work she’s made many sacrifices for me. My achievements are as much as i can do to repay her right now.”
   “It’s been a journey when she walked into O’Hara as a 12 year-old eighth grader,” said her mother Nancy Allen-Simmons. “I told her, ‘Yes, you will be on that wall and I’m going to help get you there.’”
   Now, as one chapter closes, another one opens.
   “Next I’m starting to fill out housing forms for Stanford University,” Jordan said.
   Her mother joked that she doesn’t know how she’s going to handle the distance of the thousands of miles that will be between them.
   “They’re probably going to have to check me into an institution somewhere, because I really am not sure how I’m going to be able to handle that,” Allen-Simmons said. Jordan was awarded a full four-year academic scholarship to Stanford.
   Her dream is to become a medical doctor.