Kell Anderson, 17, Granite Falls High School, senior

Published 9:00 pm Monday, March 15, 2004

Little time to rest: Kell will make the transition this summer from Granite Falls High School to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-WA, nominated him for the appointment. "I have always wanted to serve my country," the senior said.

A fancy of flight: Kell previously served as cadet commander for the Arlington Civil Air Patrol squadron and was named outstanding cadet Non-Commissioned Officer for the state Civil Air Patrol program. He has soloed in a glider.

Hard worker: To get ready for the physical demands of West Point, he wakes up at 3:30 a.m. three days a week to get to a fitness club to work out before school. In between, he fits in cross country and track turnouts.

A tale of two schools: Kell splits time between Granite Falls High and Lake Stevens High, which offers some classes not available at his home school. He has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average and is president of the Granite Falls High School National Honor Society. He enjoys math the most. He took calculus at Lake Stevens as a junior and is enrolled in statistics there this year. "I like math because if you have a problem there is only one right answer," he said.

A good place to grow up: He loves the outdoors whether, hunting, fishing, hiking, biking or running around in the woods. "I really like the small-school setting," he said. "You know everybody and everybody knows you."

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