BAKER — Leaving Baker School, which senior Malcolm Griffith has attended since kindergarten, will be strange.
"Growing up with the same people it has been a blast," he said. "Most people have to transition (to different schools) from elementary school to middle school and then middle school to high school. Here it's just going to different buildings.
"It's going to be very weird adjusting to life without Baker. This has become like a second home to me."
But for Griffith, who took dual-enrollment classes at Northwest Florida State College, the future is promising. He's finishing within the top ten of his class, will attend the University of West Florida and plans to become a certified registered nurse.
Still, it'll be hard to say goodbye.
Griffithenjoyed running track, volunteering for the school's annual senior citizens banquet and scoring a field goal when the Gator football team defeated Northview High School in this year's District 1-1A Championship.
School staffers said Griffith left an impression.
Leadership Club adviser Denise Gronberg said Griffith embodies determination.
"Malcolm never says he can’t," she said. "There isn’t a task he won’t try and accomplish with great success."
"He is not in this world just for himself; he thinks and helps wherever or whoever needs it," Baker track and assistant football coach David Oglesby said.
And the teenager accepted help, namely Oglesby's.
"When I wasn't doing that good in kicking, my 10th grade year, he really helped through that," Griffith said.
"He helped me become a better (kicker)."
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Determination, can-do attitude fuel Baker student