HOPE, AR, May 31, 2023 - Two of Hope Public Schools’ top graduates for 2023 recently sat down with Communications Director, David Henderson, to share their journeys from Freshman through the pandemic shutdown to graduation and beyond. Kaleo Anderson and Camron Robinson met with Henderson independently in the District Administration Building to hold these conversations. Though the conversations were held separately, the questions and answers are presented together for continuity. 

DAVID: Good morning! Thanks for joining me today. Let’s talk about your career at Hope High School, from coming in as a Freshman, working through the pandemic where you were stuck at home, and then emerging out the other side to graduation. What was it like?

CAMRON: So when I first came into the high school, they had the Ninth Grade Academy over there. So we were all in one building. Well, all the classes were supposed to be in one building, but I had already taken two of my 9th Grade classes. When I came in, I was taking two classes with tenth graders, so it was already a new environment, and I felt kind of special because I wasn’t confined to one building all day. I could go and mingle with the older kids and stuff. It was fun. It was different playing basketball in the ninth grade with Coach May. I was active and started in FBLA. It was just fun to me. When we got near the end of the ninth grade year, they sent us home for COVID and it was all fun and games at first. We didn’t have to worry about school. But then, it was serious. We didn’t go back to school.

KALEO: Well, the first semester of my ninth grade year, I was getting used to being around a lot of people because (before that) I was going to Yerger and Beryl Henry, and now I was around people of all different age groups. Then, in the second semester, when I was getting used to (high school), COVID came, and I had to switch to virtual. The way I did my work was a little different than how I did it in school. In the mornings, I spent more time sleeping, then getting ready for practice, then later on at night, I would finish my work. I got used to that for a couple years. Then, I had to come back out and just try to get used to going to school early in the morning again and waking up early. Basically, the whole experience just taught me how to manage my time and to adapt to different changes. It helped me become more flexible and to react to different situations. I think that experience really helped me a lot as a person. But being virtual, it kinda made my social skills go down a little bit. And I'm already not a very talkative person. So that kind of pushed that down even further.

Kaleo’s mother, Kelly Muldrew, added that Kaleo had spent part of ninth grade and all of tenth and eleventh grades off-campus in remote learning. He only came to campus for sports during that time and fully returned to in-person learning in his senior year.

CAMRON: I was already over (at UAHT) in my 10th grade year for the Collegiate Academy. I was over there and already separated (from friends). I did have a group of friends over there in the Academy, but then I'm separated from my other group of friends. My parents were scared of COVID and (of me) getting it and it was a tough period so then it was kind of depressing because it's like there's nothing for me to do. (UAHT) had a mandatory Study Hall, so I’d get done with my work and would be sitting in the room just staring at the walls. But, then we got out (of COVID protocols), finally.

DAVID (to Kaleo): One of the things that you said about being virtual was you got to sleep in, do your (football) practice, and then do your schoolwork in the evenings before you would go back to bed again. So how did you like that compared to the traditional structure of school?

KALEO: I liked it a lot better, because later on in the day, I work better than in the morning. I'm more of a night person. I like staying up a little later than being up early. And I think that was a lot easier than going to actual school. 

Muldrew added that being virtual helped Kaleo be accountable for his own time schedule, getting the work done, and learn responsibility - all factors which will come into play as he looks forward to college.

CAMRON: I was able to transition back (to traditional school attendance) at the end of the basketball season and band. Band didn’t really do much that year. They didn’t compete in competitions because of COVID. I didn’t really get to play basketball, which is understandable. But, this is when they move you up to Varsity and I missed a lot. But, in 11th and 12th grade, I got back on the basketball team and back in band. I actually ended up being the captain of the basketball team and I was the Section Leader for the Drumline. But, I missed out on things. During my 11th grade year, I actually got COVID. I was still at the Academy at the time I was getting over COVID. I was just trying to get to my classes. Then, I transitioned out of the Academy. I want to go to medical school. I knew I had to make good grades. I’m going to have to get these scholarships to pay for my college. When I get there, I don’t want to have any loans that I don’t have already.

DAVID: What are your plans for this summer, now that you’ve graduated?

KALEO: Mostly all I've been doing is working out and building a close relationship with God. God is pretty much a big priority in my life, and I need to get closer. This coming weekend, I'm going to be participating in the FCA All Star game. So basically, I've been prioritizing getting better at my craft and building a close relationship with God. Kaleo will play football at the FCA Showdown Football Game on Friday, June 2, 2023, at Tiger Stadium in Grimm Park in Texarkana, Texas. Kickoff is at 6:00 pm. Tickets are available at RedRiverFCA.org. 

CAMRON: I’m going to UAMS this summer. There is a program called SUPER. It’s a research program (to study) health disparities in minorities and stuff like that. So, HIV in African Americans, diabetes, and everything like that. I’ll choose what I want to research and while out there, look at the whole campus while researching this. We choose the research and then throughout the school year, work with professors up there and continue our research. In the spring, we present this research that we found and you could also publish the research. I also have orientation and I’ll be working. I’m trying to see if they’ll transfer me to the Pharmacy in Walmart so I can further build my medical profile.

For college, Kaleo plans to attend Hendrix and major in Accounting. His main goal, though, is to play professional football. He will be playing for Hendrix in the fall. He also has a fashion brand he and his brothers are building. He says he and his brothers watched Jeff and Matt Hardy a lot on YouTube while they were growing up and thought it would be fun to create a line of beanies, shirts and other apparel inspired by the Hardy brothers. At Hendrix, there is a program called “Odyssey” where students partner with companies outside of Arkansas in their major field. Kaleo wants to get on with a company in New York City to learn more about Accounting and hopes to put those skills to use in the fashion brand.

Camron will transfer her UAHT credits to UA-Fayetteville where she plans to study Pre-Med. In medical school, she wants to study to become an anesthesiologist. Her original plans were to move to Texas, but her relatives are actually moving to Arkansas, so she says, “I don’t think I would mind staying in Fayetteville or somewhere like a big city. Don’t get me wrong. I love Hope, but this is more of a retirement town when you’re ready.” She added, “I’m never saying I wouldn’t come back, because I would want to give back to the community like (it) has given to me.”