C-Falls senior defined by leadership

[Editor’s note: This is the first article in a weeklong series recognizing noteworthy graduates from the Class of 2019. This year’s series highlights students who are finding ways to make a difference in their communities and the lives of others.]

By KIANNA GARDNER

Daily Inter Lake

When asked how she thinks those closest to her might describe her, Genevieve Delorme imagines they would call her “excited” and “stubborn,” appropriate words for high school go-getters such as herself.

Delorme, 18, seems to check all the boxes that define an outstanding graduating senior.

She’s a member of the National Honor Society. She has excelled in her studies, including Advanced Placement biology and calculus. Those turned out to be some of her favorite, if most-challenging, courses. She’s the student body president at Columbia Falls High School, a title she feels honored to have carried for her graduating class.

“I don’t like listening to stories about things that should be improved and then not doing anything about it,” Delorme said. “As the student body president I actually get to initiate change.”

Many of Delorme’s accomplishments and contributions can be felt in her local community.

She has participated in countless community service projects. She’s a coach for Little Cat Track, which aims to instill in youth a fondness for track and field that is much like her own. She was part of a group that recently painted a sprawling mural at Montana Coffee Traders in Columbia Falls. She’s an outdoor enthusiast with a penchant for conservation.

Overall, she has been a “wonderful contribution” to Columbia Falls High School, according to counselor Linda Kaps.

“She’s been my right-hand person for the past few years. She’s so reliable and I’m so thankful for what she does every day,” Kaps said. She has worked closely with Delorme in helping graduating seniors with scholarship opportunities.

While Delorme has had a great four years of high school, the next four are shaping up to be just as successful.

She is slated to attend Montana State University in Bozeman, made possible through scholarships such as an MSU Premiere scholarship and one from Youth Serve.

She plans on pursuing a degree in elementary education.

Although she is unsure if she will stick with her major of choice, she says her time in school inspired her decision.

“I’ve always been the odd one out in my family in terms of school,” Delorme said, referring to her long-standing attraction to a learning environment, which she jokes has contrasted with her older and younger brothers’ outlooks on school.

Between her love for learning, her love of teaching youth track and her not being able to list a class she dislikes, she figured elementary education would be a good route.

Delorme has faced her fair share of adversities and when reflecting on her first 18 years, acknowledges how the adage “it takes a village to raise a child” has applied to her life.

At the age of 2, she lost her mother, but still had a strong support system with two brothers and her father. Right before her freshman year of high school, her older brother was diagnosed with leukemia. He would fight the disease during almost all of her time at Columbia Falls High School. In December 2018, he successfully navigated his final round of treatment.

“I was already a little nervous to go into high school and when he was diagnosed, it made it that much harder,” Delorme said. “It was difficult to watch him go through treatment.”

From her brother, Delorme learned strength. From her father, an independent carpenter, Delorme says she learned the importance of persistence.

“He taught me to always go after what I want even if it isn’t the popular thing to do,” Delorme said.

Aside from her three family members, she offers gratitude to her teachers and track and cross-country coaches, all of whom have offered her inspiration throughout high school. She’ll carry that with her when she walks down the hall at graduation and into her college career.

“I know college has a lot of opportunities to offer and I don’t want to hold myself back from an experience,” Delorme said.

She has painted a sunflower — her favorite flower— on the top of her graduation cap. A sunflower is also a symbol for loyalty, love and happiness — three qualities Delorme possesses that will guide her for years to come.

About 130 students are expected to graduate at 11 a.m. June 1 in the gym.

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4439 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com