By Joshua Cole
Kyle Hanson
The cumulative effect of the things that Heritage High School 2010 valedictorian Kyle Hanson did would have set him apart from most others, but Hanson set himself apart in every individual thing he did.
Hanson was honored, July 20, at the Littleton City Council meeting, along with Littleton Public Schools’ other valedictorian and salutatorians.
“Kyle not only meets others’ expectations, but he also meets his own,” said Kathleen Krumm, Hanson’s AP English Literature teacher. “For him that bar is so high, others wouldn’t even try to jump.”
The others honored by Littleton City Council: Arapahoe High School’s Paige Newell (valedictorian, headed to Harvard University), Thomas De Haven Roberts (co-salutatorian, headed to Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Lane Childers (co-salutatorian, headed to University of New Mexico); Heritage High School’s Joel Godard (salutatorian, headed to the University of Illinois); and Littleton High School’s Gavynn Ooi (valedictorian, headed to Brown University) and Aldolfredo Alvarez (salutatorian, headed to Stanford University).
Hanson’s was in a well-rounded list of clubs; but he wasn’t just a member, he was leader in many of them: a core organizer for Make a Difference (MAD) Week, which has raised funds to build a school in Africa; president of the Spanish Honor Society; chairman of a student council committee; a lead actor in multiple performances.
His scholarly focus, which he plans to use to become a doctor, put him at the top of the class; but he was more than just a scientist and mathematician: an actor, a pianist who studies music theory, a devourer of classic literature and poetry, a self-taught linguist so he can read poetry and short stories in the original text.
His impact at Heritage has made the school better; but he also influenced the entire community: he sold pumpkins from his family’s back yard for the school’s theater department; he tutors immigrants learning English through the Littleton Immigrant Resource Center; as a lab assistant at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Hanson was credited as a co-author for a scientific study that may soon be published; he began a process to expand students’ independent learning options as part of Littleton Public Schools’ Educational Technology Advisory Committee.
“Neither of my parents were actors or played music,” Hanson said. “They motivated me to keep up with my schoolwork and pursue whatever I could do. They helped me to do the things that I found enjoyable, the things I wanted to make a big part of my life and to do them as well as I could and to stay focused on those things. There are a lot things that can be discouraging, but it’s easier when you have someone supporting you in whatever you do.”
In class, because he had known so many answers before, stumped classmates often turned their heads and eyes toward him. Instead of letting them down, he usually did have the answer; instead of being aloof with that knowledge, he helped them out.
“He understands his intelligence at times is so deep that when he speaks, he understands how funny it can sound,” Krumm said. “He never dumbs it down. He almost over-explains himself. He can explain it in many scaffolds. He’ll start at his level, and then he’ll say it again. He’s a good teacher, and he wants people to understand.”
Many of the things he has done have connected to the community – including piano performances and accompanist for local churches – but he still stayed close to school. In his junior year production of Footloose, Hanson played Willard Hewitt, the somewhat dim-witted friend of the protagonist.
“The irony there is that the valedictorian played the dumb guy, and he played it flawlessly,” Krumm said.
Meanwhile, he also connects his school and his classmates to the rest of the world, especially with his role in MAD Week and with Spanish Honor Society. With the honor society, members had often done their volunteering hours tutoring friends in Spanish class or selling food at various school events. After Hanson had seen a few adult English language learners frustrated coming out of their community classes, Hanson talked with them in Spanish and was eager to help. He realized that one-on-one practice would encourage these learners in a way they couldn’t get in a larger classroom. Soon, he wasn’t just supplementing their classroom work, he had other students from Heritage signing up to help tutor English.
As a lab assistant, he started off with somewhat menial but necessary work – tracing and coloring. But Hanson never complained, and soon he was taking on more responsibilities. Hanson traced the brain to create a computer 3D model related to the sense of smell.
“An earnest kid, quick learner, very intelligent and independent – those were his strengths,” said Dr. Ernesto Salcedo. “This tracing stuff could be mind-numbing. He always handled everything with a smile, and he would tackle it. I thought he was very interested in the material.”
While others might bemoan that Hanson’s pursuits of serious work precludes him from having fun, Hanson would disagree. Learning is the most exciting thing, and everything he did he liked. Plus, this summer Hanson is working at a nearby recreation’s rock climbing wall.
The most difficult thing Hanson did during his senior year was chose a college. Entire schools earn millions of dollars of scholarship offers for their students; Hanson had about $3 million of scholarships offers alone, including from many colleges he hadn’t heard of or applied to, he said. He was accepted to nine colleges he had applied for, including Harvard, Princeton and Vanderbilt.
Hanson chose the University of Denver. Colorado’s Boettcher Scholarship provided a full-ride to any in-state school but also a peer network of other winners from across the state.
Although Hanson has shown glimpses of the success he would have if he became a professional actor, musician, businessman or executive, Hanson, currently, plans on becoming a doctor. The job would require intensive and continuous learning in math and science, face-to-face interaction and teaching.
“A doctor encompasses everything I want to do,” Hanson said.
And it’s not like he’ll give up on other things either. When Hanson was in The Fully Monty at the Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities, one of his colleagues was a professional dentist during the day, and Hanson imagines he could model the same lifestyle.
“Here’s something I want to do in college: I want to find out what I want to do,” Hanson said. “I’ve done so many things and just about everything I can do with my high school career. I’d love to keep opening up more options and find out who I am. I’ve done so much, and there’s so much more that’s out there. I’d like to take advantage of that and test the waters and become what I am going to do what I want to do.”
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josh@villagerpublishing.com
