Neelin student aces provincial exam

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/01/2012 (5244 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Rhys Naylor got his provincial English exam mark back, he was shocked to see two zeros on his card — of course, the number one in front of the zeros put a smile on his face ear to ear.

“It was a surprise to me,” the Grade 12 Neelin High School student said.

“At first, I just kind of laughed and thought they must’ve gotten the wrong paper, but it’s good recognition of the hard work that I put into it, which was nice.”

Over the four-day exam, Naylor crafted a short story about how one insignificant event begins a chain of events that dramatically affects his main character. In one instance, tripping on the sidewalk leads his main character to an extended hospital stay, where he falls into a coma but eventually becomes the mayor of the community. In the second instance, the same man avoids falling on the sidewalk and instead ends up disparaged and unemployed.

“I found it really enjoyable to see what I could do with the story,” Naylor said.

Acing the exam should open more than a few doors for Naylor, and he used the opportunity to take a friendly shot at his older brother and sister.

“They didn’t get a 100,” Naylor said joking.

Naylor is among a group of students at Neelin who are taking the International Baccalaureate English program. He credited his teacher, Lindsay Kendall, for some of his success.

“She’s helped us a ton and she made sure we were super prepared for everything we were going to see on the exam,” Naylor said. “Before I started IB English, I liked English as much as the next person, but she is really passionate about what she does and I think that had an imprint on the whole class.”

For her part, Kendall said Naylor has been a joy to work with in the classroom.

“I love my job, especially when I get to work with kids like Rhys,” Kendall said. “He is one of the best students that I have ever taught and I respect him tremendously as a student because he’s a bright young man that is very hard working.”

The IB program at Neelin has been very successful — this year, every student in the program scored above 90 per cent on their English exam, Kendall said. But she remembers distinctly the energy Naylor carried with him each morning he showed up to write the exam.

“Every day he came in to write and he was so excited and I remember telling him, ‘You’re such a nerd,’” Kendall said with a laugh.

The hard work, dedication and enthusiasm should only help Naylor in whatever he decides to do.

“He’s made the decision to take courses that are going to be more difficult and in doing so has given himself a real advantage when he goes to university next year,” Kendall said.

University is in his future, but Naylor said he hasn’t locked into any one stream.

“I haven’t made any decisions,” Naylor said. “I’m looking at universities and it’s part of the process.”

And there’s no pressure to go to Brandon University, where Naylor’s father, James, is a history professor.

“I’ve been looking at some schools outside of Brandon,” Naylor said.

» ctweed@brandonsun.com