Millbrook High School has an annual tradition of nominating and awarding the title of Outstanding Senior to 10-15 students in each yearly class. The class of 2025 consists of around 600 students, and this year there were 50 finalists nominated for the recognition. Lane Ivy was one of the 15 that were awarded as this year’s Outstanding Seniors.
Participating in athletics, high level classes and extracurricular activities, Ivy is known across the senior class and school. His hard work, determination, and ability to manage his varying tasks has allowed him to stand out in this class and earn this much deserved recognition.
Across his four years in high school, Ivy has maintained all A’s and has accumulated a 4.5 weighted grade point average. This academic achievement alone is very impressive as the high school average weighted GPA in North Carolina is less than four. This also means that Ivy has completed many rigorous courses including AP classes. Ivy said, “I definitely think being in higher level classes has helped me because I got credit for certain things, and I do think it prepares you for college while still being in the high school setting.”
Along with taking these AP courses, a student can earn the AP Scholar Award for getting a three or higher on at least three of their exams in a year. Ivy has received this award along with some other recognitions. One of those recognitions was during his junior year, where he was selected as a Junior Marshall. This means that Ivy was in the top five percent of his class based on GPA, and he got to help lead the seniors in the class of 2024 during the graduation ceremony, which is a big honor and responsibility.
Continuing with impressive academic achievements, Ivy is proud of his ACT score, a test that most colleges require you to take. Ivy said, “I got a 35, so that was pretty crazy.” With this test having a perfect score of 36, Ivy’s excitement of a 35 is well earned.
Ivy has excelled in academics throughout his high school career, but he has also worked to balance extracurricular activities too. Ivy is a part of both the National Honor Society and the Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society. Along with this he has been a part of the Millbrook football team for three years.
His time on the football team has been difficult due to switching positions each year. Starting sophomore year, Ivy played tight end and outside linebacker. He then moved to offensive line his junior year, and he ended his high school football career as right tackle. Ivy said, “The extracurricular I am most proud of is football. I liked starting senior year and being a captain for the team.”
Senior football player PJ Ragains said, “He was one of the biggest leaders on the football team this year.” Ivy’s ability to lead and be loved can be seen by many including his teammates and peers.
With all of these tasks Ivy has had to find a way to manage the social and academic aspects of his life. He said, “The best way that I do it is to focus and make sure I am getting all of the things that need to get done first, and then I can move on to what I want to do. I take advantage of the A and B days, but I am also not too stressed about getting everything done.”
Being able to manage when to do work and when to have fun is a good skill to have, especially when preparing for college. Ivy will be attending NC State University in the fall, and he will be majoring in business administration. He said, “I don’t know exactly what job I want to do yet, but I know I want to work with people and manage a team or something. I feel like I could be a leader in some sort of business like assigning tasks to different people.”
Social studies teacher Mrs. Rimar agrees with his ability to manage others. She said, “He is outspoken and is not afraid to share his opinions and thoughts with others but also listens to constructive feedback and makes changes when needed to improve. Lane looks at problems from multiple perspectives before deciding a solution that would best work for everyone.”
These skills that Ivy shows in the classroom translate to the things he has learned throughout these four years. Ivy said, “I would tell an underclassman to make the most of your time here because it kinda goes by faster than you would think, and don’t hesitate to get involved in something new or something you have never done before. I would also say to always work as hard as you can because it pays off.”
Along with this, Ivy would describe his high school experience with the words fun, work and people. He said, “I would say work would be one of the words because there was just a lot of hard work. I would say people because a lot of people worked with me like teachers and other peers, and I would say it was a lot of fun too, so fun would be my third word.”
Fun can definitely describe some of Ivy’s favorite traditions and memories from high school. Most of them center around football including senior night and the wins during the playoff season this year. Ivy was a part of the team this year that made it to the third round of playoffs. The second win was against New Bern High School, and Ivy remembers it as one of the highlights of the year.
Ivy said, “My favorite Millbrook tradition would probably be doing the senior stuff with football because I think that was really important for me since it was like I kind of finally made it to the biggest level of high school football.”
Outside of the academics and extracurriculars at Millbrook, Ivy has other hobbies that he loves to make time for. He said, “A lot of people don’t know that I enjoy hunting and fishing, and I like being outside. A big part of my life is also my faith in Jesus, and that’s a big thing I care about.”
Others have noticed Ivy’s commitment to the things he believes in and cares about. Junior Toby Bell said, “Lane is a blue collar individual that is always working hard and never complaining. He puts God first in everything he does, and it shows as he’s always kind and one of the most trustworthy people I know.”
Bell and senior Lisette Hunter both commented on Ivy’s love of the app Block Blast as well. With his current score of 84 thousand in the game, Ivy is known by his friends and peers through this game as well.
Ivy’s accomplishments are seen across the school and football field, which has allowed him to build connections and create a lasting memory here at Millbrook. Ivy said, “The biggest thing I learned in high school is as long as you work hard [on every] single thing, then it’s all going to work out.”
