Kalie Gipson

Many people see movie stars or athletes as role models, but Kalie Gipson’s role model is her mother, Lisa Gipson.

Kalie said her mother is emotionally strong, and she encourages Kalie to “keep my head up and keep fighting every day.”

Even from birth Gipson has been a fighter.  She was born after her mother had a tubal ligation. When her mother was six months into her pregnancy, the doctors told her she was going to have a baby, soon to be Gipson. It is for this reason that Gipson calls herself a “miracle child.”

Today, Gipson attends Franklin-Simpson High School in Franklin, Ky., where she is involved in extracurricular activities, including her school newspaper where she is the sports editor.

She attends a variety of sporting events for fun and entertainment. Gipson said she enjoys playing pick-up basketball games, playing video games, and driving around her small town with her friends. She enjoys writing and reading. She often reads to relieve stress or just to help her fall asleep, and she will read books many times because she enjoys it so much.

Gipson said she receives high marks in her classes and her favorite subject is history.

A typical school day for Gipson begins with her waking up at 6 a.m. After eating breakfast, she drives herself to school where she takes all honors classes. In between classes she often talks to her friends, many of whom are in the band. This helps Gipson because she uses her connections in the band to get into sporting events for free where she can get all the information for her sports articles. She ends the day by hanging out with her friends more and then eventually returning home to work on homework or just sleep.

Loyalty to friends and to family is one of her core values. She said that, “if you’re not loyal to your friends you can’t call them friends. Sometimes you have to put them first and not yourself.”

When she goes to college, Gipson wants to major in education and possibly minor in journalism. She said she dreams of being a history teacher at Franklin-Simpson High School where she hopes to advise the school newspaper or teach a journalism class.

Michael Danahy, Saint Henry District High School