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Beulah High School’s 2022-2023 valedictorian has some advice for upcoming students.

“Always work hard and help others around you because when you’re struggling, you’ll need help with this or that,” said senior Brandy Phillips. “You can always get help if you’re nice to your teachers.”

Phillips, daughter of Kenneth and Stephanie Phillips, achieved valedictorian for her class this year. She is heading to Wallace State Community College with a full softball scholarship in the fall and plans to study education.

An active student-athlete, Phillips played softball, basketball and was on the cheerleading team. This year, she went to the state softball tournament and placed fourth in the state.

She will graduate this year with the Outstanding Student-Athlete award and the Bryant Jordan scholarship from the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

Phillips also won the Scholar-Athlete Achievement award for the local area as well as statewide for her division.

In school, Phillips has participated in SGA, Beta Club, HOSA and FCA. The clubs have taught her leadership skills and a sense of community.

“I feel like they give you a sense of leadership,” Phillips said. “They give you something that you can do in the school, like with SGA, we help the school. We give the teachers gifts and everything, and I feel like they just bring the community together and bring the school together.”

With so many extracurricular activities and sports teams, Phillips had to work on her time management skills. She also developed better study habits to ensure that she kept up with her grades.

Chemistry was one subject that caused Phillips to adjust her studying methods.

“I had to change my study skills a lot throughout that class, and I had to work a lot harder than I did in a lot of other classes, but it taught me that hard work is still going to get you there,” she said.

Luckily, her teachers at Beulah High were always ready to support her growth. When she needed to leave class early for a game, they worked hard to help her catch up.

Phillips’ favorite subject is English. She enjoys writing essays about books. Her English teachers Sarah Baswell and Lauren Boulware have made a great impact on her.

“The teachers at the school are very helpful. They’re a very good support system,” Phillips said. “They really helped with when I had to leave school for this and that for sports. They made sure to help me make up my work and to teach me what I didn’t get when I was out. They were very flexible with work.”

Still, she has had a strong support system for her education since she was in kindergarten. Her parents always pushed her to work hard.

Though she has worked diligently since ninth grade, Phillips wasn’t expecting to be number one.

“My parents have told me to always work hard,” she said. “Ever since I was in kindergarten, they’ve made sure I’ve done my work, and I’ve stayed on top of things. They’ve set really high goals for me, and I’ve always wanted to achieve them.”