Standout Student: Heritage Christian Academy's Emily Jorgenrud

Today’s Standout Student, Emily Jorgenrud, has the heart for children and the smarts to take that in whatever direction she wants.

Several times a week, senior Emily is a teacher’s assistant in the Pre-K classes at Heritage Christian Academy.

“I just love working with kids and helping them grow. And they also just make me so happy,” said Jorgenrud.  

Her love of children is just one facet of Emily’s personality. Academically, she’s a rock star, achieving a better-than-4.0 GPA through her tackling of advanced placement classes.  

Carin Laird is the Advanced Placement English teacher at Heritage Christian Academy and has been teaching Emily since the student was in sixth grade.

“It’s really fun to see how much she’s grown in her skills and her maturity just in the last seven years,” said Laird.

What does someone who excels at everything from calculus to chemistry to composition, and who loves children do after high school?

“I really like pediatric medicine,” said Jorgenrud. “I would love helping kids feel better and just nurturing them in those environments because I know it can be like scary to be like in a hospital type setting, but I would like to nurture them through those environments. And teaching — I would love to help them just become more educated and grow as people.”

Emily said she has some colleges picked out, but hasn’t committed to one of them yet.

“I’m planning on going to college but I’m planning on staying local. I have three younger siblings and I could not imagine like leaving my family, so I plan to stay local,” said Jorgenrud. 

Neil Pursley, reporting