Academic Achiever of the Week: Kayleanna Cochran

Kayleanna Cochran is a senior at Frontier High School and she’s been an academic achiever for most of her life.

“I’ve had a 4.0 all my life, and I’m number one in my class right now. I’m in the running for co-valedictorian,” said Cochran.

Kayleanna has spent the last couple of years taking classes at Washington State Community College, working on an associates degree before she’s even done with high school.

“I’ve been there since my junior year, full time. I’ve taken college algebra, anatomy, that was a big one for me. Speech, classes like that,” said Cochran.

That’ll put her ahead as she plans to earn a bachelor’s degree at Marietta College.

“So, I’ll get my associate of science degree when I graduate high school, as well as my honors diploma,” said Cochran. “I’m going to go to Marietta College for a bachelor’s degree in biology, and then hopefully go on to be a physician’s assistant.”

Cochran says she has always had an interest in the medical field. And she’s already sticking out at Marietta College. She was accepted into the Honor and Leadership Program there.

“The honor’s program is where you take different courses that are higher level. And the leadership, it’s one of the best in the country - they accept 85 students each year,” said Cochran.

While Cochran stays busy at WSCC, she makes time to serve her high school as a student council member.

“We organize a bunch of different things, like prom and we always have a cancer night for our football team. And we raise money for the cancer society,” said Cochran.

Cochran also loves animals and spends a significant amount of time volunteering with pet groomers. She’s also a member of the Future Farmers of America.

“And I also donate a lot to the Humane Society in Marietta,” said Cochran.

Like many academic achievers, Cochran is an active volunteer. She even tutors her neighbor.

“I really enjoy tutoring my neighbor. She’s in sixth grade right now. I always help with math homework,” said Cochran.

And of course, she’s a member of the national honor society at both Frontier and WSCC.

She was also a runner for some time, earning her varsity letter in track and field as a freshman. She quit after sophomore year.

“I just kind of got out of running, but I enjoyed it at the time,” said Cochran.