Meet
Kyra Ricci
School: Montrose Area Junior/Senior High School.
Parents: Dan and Karen Ricci.
Plans: Attend Coastal Carolina University’s honors program with a major in biology.
Kyra Ricci helped build artificial reefs in Bali as a scuba diver and has traveled to five continents — including Antarctica.
The Montrose senior, who is ranked second in her graduating class with a 4.0 GPA, has lived a very adventurous life for someone who hasn’t even graduated from high school yet. Other than North America and Antarctica, she traveled to South America, Europe and Asia, and most notably, she scuba dove in the Bahamas, the island of Bonaire
and Bali, Indonesia.
Kyra takes pride in holding numerous scuba certifications and specialties, and this summer she will earn her PADI Divemaster certification, she said. PADI Divemasters lead other divers by supervising scuba diving activities and assisting with diver training, according to PADI’s website. She is currently certified as a PADI Rescue Diver.
As a scuba diver, Kyra also volunteered with Bonaire’s sea turtle nest conservation cleanup.
Throughout her high school career, Kyra performed at district, regional and state-level musical events, and she received district and regional recognition in orchestra. She also earned district recognition in Jazz Choir.
She is proud to be the only student from Montrose to qualify for both PMEA’s All-State Chorus and All-State Concert Band, and she qualified for the All-Eastern Concert Band in her senior year, she said.
Kyra has played the French horn for eight years, and her involvement with the concert band is her most rewarding school activity, she said.
“My hard work was rewarded when I was able to qualify to attend District, Regional, All-State and All-Eastern Concert Band during my high school career,” she said.
Kyra has taken nearly every honors and AP course offered at Montrose, and she is a member of several academic organizations, including National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society and the National Society of High School Scholars. She is also a National Merit Scholar Commended Student.
Last year, she was the president of the Spanish Club and the treasurer of student council.
This year, she is the president of her school’s chorus program, president of AP Club, the treasurer of her graduating class and the student council historian.
In 15 years, Kyra hopes to have finished graduate school and be living somewhere near a beach. She plans to work in a molecular biology research lab while working as a scuba diving instructor on the side.
Kyra’s philosophy for life is a quote from a Robert Frost poem.
“I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep,” she quoted.
— FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY