CHARACTER COUNTS

Skyline senior maintains high GPA, volunteers while playing varsity hoops

Sep 30, 2019, 1:31 PM

PHOENIX — Skyline High School senior Marley Hayes has a lot of responsibility coming her way this year, and we’re not just talking about her final year of high school.

Hayes has been on Skyline’s varsity girls basketball team for all four years, and she’s returning as a leader after a team full of seniors last season has lost some key contributors due to graduation.

If you knew anything about Hayes’ time off the court, you’d know she’s ready.

Hayes has a 3.7 GPA, earning her a Legacy of Excellence Award for American History from her school and she was an honorable mention for the All-Academic Team in her junior season.

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s that hard because I really work hard in the classroom so then it’s not that hard to keep my grades up,” she said of her school work.

On top of that, Hayes donates her time to volunteering, such as to Feed my Starving Children.

She had just volunteered there recently, a non-profit that distributes food to children in developing nations that need food. The meals those volunteers hand-pack are nutritious and specifically designed for preventing undernutrition.

“I like doing that because it makes me feel good, feeding kids,” she said. “I just like helping people, really.”

She also works with the Special Olympics and early intervention kids, doing the latter on Halloween, Christmas and Easter. If that wasn’t enough she’s also spent time going back to her junior high school to visit and assist her former teachers.

“It’s amazing to me that she can do as much as she does,” Marley’s mom Trisha said. “It’s always been the kind of person she is.”

It will not surprise you to hear that Marley has aspirations of getting into Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and becoming a pilot.

“I just like flying,” she said, noting she doesn’t get nervous on flights and has always been fascinated by it.

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Skyline senior maintains high GPA, volunteers while playing varsity hoops