2015 Salutatorian Can Sing, Dance, Serve Others

Le’Bria Ware was surprised to learn she was near the top of her class. “I never really thought about it,” she said, “I was just doing my best in my courses.”
 
Always “doing her best” is what most of her teachers and friends would say about her. Her good friend, Alesia Johnson, found out that Le’Bria could sing, and suggested she join her in a new choir forming at the school. “There were four or five of us in 6th grade who got together to sing,” Alesia remembers, “but it kind of fell apart, and we didn’t resume singing until our freshman year.”
 
Eventually “The Sounds of Bishop Dunne”--a gospel choir--took off, and Le’Bria soon found herself with six best friends.
 
In addition to choir, Le’Bria had a number of activities keeping her busy at Bishop Dunne, beginning with basketball in middle school. When she moved up to high school she concentrated on her classes until she decided to try out for the drill team at the end of her sophomore year. She made the squad, and danced with her drill team both her junior and senior years, becoming senior line officer this year. She has great memories of the Falconettes’ trip to Hawaii last year, as well as participating in the competition this year in Duncanville, and performing for the State Championship football team.
 
She admits she’s a “football junkie” and probably didn’t give her finest performance during that last game of the season, saying “I was so excited about that game, I was watching the field and missing my dance cues–but wow–what a night that was!”
    
Most salutatorians have a favorite teacher, but Le’Bria says all her teachers at Bishop Dunne were terrific, from Sister Carol in her first math class to Eleanor Graham and Brinkley Maclin in her AP English IV class. She took five AP courses this year, and said reading Crime and Punishment made AP English her toughest class. “That is a really dense, difficult book – but I understand it now,” she says, smiling.
 
With that many tough classes, you’d think Le’Bria wouldn’t have time for other activities, but the choir and the Falconettes provided her a sense of release–and joy. “Our new coach, Ms. Kelly Norman, stepped right in last year when Ms. Culton had to take it easy when she was pregnant with her twins,” Le’Bria said, “both women were such an inspiration to me.” She added, “Going to Hawaii was just amazing!” Le’Bria would like to return there one day, and take her family with her.
 
A sense of family grounds her, and while she’s serving at The Promise House, a home for runaways, she says she really understands how blessed she is. She tutors children there, from age six to seventeen, in English and math, and she sees how hard life is without loving parents and a big brother to talk to.
Accepted to all six colleges she applied to, including UT- Austin, Baylor, the University of Arkansas, St. John’s in New York and Iowa State, she plans to attend Texas A&M in the fall and study microbiology. She wants to stay in Texas to be close to her parents, Karen and Mahlon, who met in high school. She knows she got her voice from her father. “Dad could sing! That’s how my mom met him--she heard him singing,” she relates with a laugh. Her big brother Mahlon is also a Bishop Dunne graduate, class of 2011. She said following him from St. Philip’s School and Community Center made the transition from a small school to a bigger one easy.
 
Now she’s ready for a bigger stage herself. She attributes her success to the excellent education she received at Bishop Dunne, and the opportunities available to her at the school. After joining the school choir, she felt confident enough to become a member of the youth choir at her church, Freedom Missionary Baptist Church. Being a Baptist at a Catholic school was never a problem, says Le’Bria. “My seventh grade religion teacher, Mrs. Cooper, made it clear to me that we can learn from each other. I wouldn’t hesitate to tell others to attend here,” she adds.
 
She also doesn’t hesitate to try new things, and knows she can overcome adversity. “Our choir trip with the band last year to Colorado sort of cemented it for me,” she reveals. “We learned to snow ski one day, and then were in a choir competition the next day, then back on the slopes the third day. My friends in the choir and I had skied this one mountain trail all day, so we decided we should try a new route, you know, go somewhere else.” Half way up the new mountain Le’Bria began to panic. She remembers, “I was sitting on the chair lift with Danae (Jackson) and I thought, ‘we’re going to die if we keep going up!’ At the top we realized we had probably made a mistake. I can’t count the number of times I fell skiing down that mountain.” But, the girls all made it, with no injuries, and now have a hilarious story to tell.
 
That mountaintop experience was a lot like her first AP class, Human Geography with Mr. Drew Halevy. “I was a freshman, only one of a few in that class. It was hard. I thought I’d fail.  Mr. Halevy helped me, showed me how to study. I learned how to learn. I made it through,” she explains.
 
And now, along with the Valedictorian, Justin Mills, she’s ascended to the top of her class – a surprise to her, but not to those who know her. “Le’Bria’s so talented,” her good friend Alesia says. “She developed really great leadership qualities over the years here. And she’s very calm at crazy times. There are moments when I can go to her and just talk to her. She has a good head on her shoulders. I’m not surprised she’s our Salutatorian. She deserves it.”
 
A Falcon ready to graduate and become an Aggie, and then, the sky’s the limit. But skiing? “Maybe,” Le’Bria says with a smile.
 
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7