Bailey Lucas: Valedictorian Spotlight for Connersville High School 2025
Connersville High School senior Bailey Lucas will give the commencement speech as Valedictorian of the 2024-25 graduating class at the Spartan Bowl on Sunday.
“I feel like everybody’s looking forward to a change of pace from high school,” Lucas said. “I’m going to be talking about a lot of the adversity that our class has faced these last four years, as well as personal accomplishments.”
The daughter of Brian and Tessa Sweney, and the late Charles Lucas, Lucas participated with the speech, tennis, and bowling teams. She is a 4-time state qualifier for the CHS speech team and played 1 doubles with junior Trinitee Steele for the 2025 sectional champion Lady Spartans. Lucas was a member of the National Honor Society, the National Technical Honor Society, and Early College High School (ECHS) while compiling a 4.1 Grade Point Average at CHS.
“I think it comes down to time management,” Lucas said, “and being able to use your time wisely in general. A lot of it is the support of my family helping me get through all the various things I have to do. I would like to thank my family. My dad that has passed away, a lot of what I have done is just in his memory. My grandma (Gloria Clark) is a big part of my life as well.”
Lucas will attend Indiana University Bloomington in the fall to major in political science before attending law school. On May 11, Lucas, along with 55 of her classmates graduated from Ivy Tech at a commencement ceremony in Richmond. Lucas graduated from Early College High School with Indiana College Core (30 credit hours), and an Associate Degree in General Studies (ICC + 30 credit hours). Lucas graduated Summa Cum Laude with 64 college credits, a Law Enforcement Certificate of Graduation, an Indiana Law Enforcement State Jail Certificate, and her certification in CPR.
“I’ve always enjoyed aspects of law in general,” Lucas said. “My late father dealt with a lot of like things in the legal system that weren’t exactly right. It kind of drove me to want to change some things a little bit. [ECHS] was very beneficial, for sure. The teachers were great. It’s really going to help me out whenever I’m having to go to school all these years.”
The ICC and associate’s degree prior to graduation from high school could shorten her time as an undergraduate at IU by a year and a half. While at CHS, Lucas took criminal justice courses at the Whitewater Career Center.
The ICC and associate’s degree prior to graduation from high school could shorten her time as an undergraduate at IU by a year and a half. While at CHS, Lucas took criminal justice courses at the Whitewater Career Center.
“I think what helped me the most was my WCC classes,” Lucas said. “They’re weighted, because they’re also college classes. Getting an A+ in all of them has helped a lot. I’m going to be going into 300 level classes. They’re going to be more difficult, but I think I can handle it. Whenever we took courses through IU, like Comp, for example, they were a little more challenging.”
The 2024-25 Connersville High School graduation will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.
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