HOMESTEAD, FLA. (WSVN) - Homestead High School student Janiya Baker, 15, jumped from the ninth grade to the 12th grade in just one year and she will be recognized at Homestead City Hall for her incredible achievement.
A feat that has never been done before in Miami-Dade County, Baker thrived in the busy environment of extra-curricular activities and being a student athlete. She even holds the current highest GPA in her class.
“I was ready to finish school,” she said.
Her mother noticed her daughter’s drive in elementary school.
“I noticed she was very accelerated, and I’m like, ‘OK, she don’t make B’s,” so them I’m like, let’s put her in higher classes, and then she started accelerating, accelerating and she went higher and she never dropped the ball so I was, ‘OK, let’s go for it,'” Baker’s mother said.
But it was no easy goal.
“It was a lot of work I had to do,” Baker said.
She did it while juggling extra curricular as a student-athlete.
Baker currently holds the highest GPA in her class.
All of her accomplishments are making her parent and principal proud.
“Moving from 9th grade to 12th, that shows grit, perseverance,” said her principal said. “It shows a young lady with tenacity and the vision to accomplish her future goals, sooner rather than later.”
“Me and her dad Travis, we raised her to be the intelligent young woman that she is, and we’re proud of her,” Baker’s mother said.
Baker’s advice to other students who want to be a fast learners is to have a “stick-to-it” attitude.
“Never give up and keep going even if it gets hard and just have a great support system around you,” Baker said,
Her mother, who is one of her biggest supporters, remembers the day her daughter made up her mind to finish school early.
“She was like, “Mom, I’m ready for it, I’m ready to go off, I’m ready to graduate, I’m ready to be me,'” she said.
From class president to varsity cheerleader, Baker’s goals after high school are set on Florida International University where she aims to major in business and join the cheer team to spread her Panther spirit.
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