C LAS S OF 2021 VAL E D I CTORI AN
KISYL HOUSDEN of her campus involvements throughout her four year career is long and notable. Housden served as Parliamentarian of National Honor Society, President of Girls Who Code, Senior Representative of Honor Council, Public Affairs Officer for Cadre, and was also an active member of Junior National Honor Society, English Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Spanish National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, spent three years on the Girls Varsity Soccer Team, ran on Varsity Track team her senior year, and also managed to find time to participate in three years of the theatre program. As if this extensive list of campus involvements wasn’t enough to occupy her time, Housden also found ways to give back to the Front Royal community she grew up in. When asked about her other interests off campus, Kisyl shared, “Outside of school, I joined the Warren Memorial Hospital VolunTeen Program.” She continued to express the motivations behind her decision to volunteer her time with Warren Memorial, “I wanted to see the medical field first hand, and I wanted to help people which is something I want to continue to do throughout my life.” Kisyl went on to share that one of her most memorable experiences as a VolunTeen, “My favorite part of the whole experience was the semi-grandchild connection I made with a lot of the older patients in the nursing home. They really enjoy when you visit and speak with them!”
The distinguished honor of achieving class valedictorian for the Class of 2021 is presented to Kisyl Housden! Kisyl was born and raised in Front Royal, and first arrived at R-MA when she joined a math camp the summer before entering ninth grade. Brimming with emotions teetering between excitement and nervousness, Kisyl welcomed a new challenge to push herself to her full potential. The overwhelming nature of new environments and strong curriculum soon started to cling to Kisyl as she worked through tough 8-hour days of math classes. Housden credits the sense of community she felt from teachers and fellow classmates as helping her make it through the intensive summer camp. It should come as no surprise to hear Kisyl was quick to receive her first recognition from R-MA as the most-outstanding summer program student for geometry following the completion of her summer camp. Once she officially stepped foot on campus as a certified ninth grader, Kisyl wasted no time getting involved. The list
12 The Sabre Magazine | Summer-Fall 2021
After dedicating her time to the R-MA and the Front Royal communities alike, Kisyl looked back on some of her favorite moments throughout the years. Perhaps, not surprisingly, her Valedictorian announcement took the top of the list. Kisyl describes the moment she first found out she would receive this honor, “I was at the National Honor Society induction ceremony... when they gave an early announcement for Valedictorian. I was so caught off guard at that moment when they called my name. I literally started jumping around in joy as my friends cheered me on. It was an awesome moment.” In reflecting on her extremely accomplished 4 years with R-MA, Kisyl looks back to her first impressions of the caring community she first met at summer math camp, “It’s absolutely the same. I still talk to seniors I met when I was a freshman. This place is about lifelong friendships.” Kisyl plans to take her expertise, passion, and determination to make positive change in the world with her to Cornell University to study biomedical engineering.
