Cassie Yarbrough (Class of 2013)

My name is Cassie Yarbrough. I was grateful enough to attend IDEAL from preschool to 8th grade. I will never forget graduating from IDEAL Middle School in 2013 and crying because I wished that they had a high school that I could attend. I’ll admit, I was extremely nervous to go to a public high school. Luckily, IDEAL had prepared me with not only advanced academic skills, but also with knowledge on how to be successful in my future endeavors. I quickly jumped into playing volleyball at Palm Beach Central High School and continued with that throughout all 4 years. As a sophomore, I joined the newspaper staff; taking pictures and writing articles for my high school was probably one of my favorite programs to be a part of. Being on the staff, I had the privilege of attending multiple Palm Beach Post award ceremonies, where our staff won “Best Overall”. I am now finishing my second year at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, where I am transferring to the University of Florida next year. I am currently studying Dietetics and plan to be involved with health and fitness in the future.

Throughout my years of high school and college, I have faced many obstacles and challenges. However, I continue to overcome any obstacles that are put in my way. I believe that IDEAL shaped me into who I am today. Without the guidance and role models that surrounded me each day at IDEAL, I would not be the confident, independent women I am today. I gained knowledge on everything from time management to how to properly eat at lunch time. Something that I get asked a lot is, “How hard was it to transition from a private school to a big public high school?” My immediate reaction is to always laugh; but then I tell them how incredibly life-changing my time at IDEAL was and how they greatly prepared me for anything that the real world had to throw at me. Thank you IDEAL for allowing me to be successful and for giving me some of the best years of my life.