Pandemic taught Flagler-Palm Coast High School graduate importance of community

After attending Flagler County Schools — Belle Terre Elementary, Bunnell Elementary and Indian Trails Middle School — for his entire K-12 career, Jack Gilvary graduated from Flagler-Palm Coast High May 22.

The Class of 2024 began high school amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While Gilvary attended school in person as a freshman, he said it was an “interesting” year, as some of his classmates were in school with him, while others remained at home.

“I just value being face to face with teachers, even if it’s with a mask on,” Gilvary said. “My friends and school are a big part of my social life, so I think being there and being able to kind of have that interaction with friends instead of doing it via Zoom or some other online mode was more valuable and, I guess, better for my social life than if I were to be at home the whole time.”

For Gilvary, forming a sense of community and camaraderie was a big part of what made his high school years so memorable.

Gilvary was part of Flagler-Palm Coast’s International Baccalaureate program all four years of high school.

“Outside of the academic benefit, you kind of become family, so … most of my best friends are IB,” he said. “You also kind of get parent-student relationships with your teacher, so I’d say those relationships are really valuable.”

In addition to his rigorous coursework, Gilvary was a member of the National Honor Society for two years and served as vice president of his school’s Problem-Solving Team.

“Problem solving is one of, like, the biggest things that people in the workforce now look for. So being able to do that through a club instills those values in underclassmen who are going to be rising juniors and seniors, so they can kind of have those skills going into college and beyond.”

Gilvary was also a three-year varsity runner, competing in both cross country and track and field. He served as team captain for two years.

He loves running, and said the sport serves as a great emotional release, “especially when we have stressful days in school because of the IB program or testing or something like that.”

But most notably, his teammates and coaches have played a family role in Gilvary’s life, too.

“The coaches are kind of second parents to us,” he said. “We spend, sometimes, even more time with them than our parents during some weeks.”

Gilvary said his coach, David Halliday, who is a finalist for the National High School Coach of the Year, cultivates a team mindset of “champions” that focuses on “transforming students into well-rounded adults.”

“I’ve developed a very close relationship with him,” Gilvary said. “I kind of call him like my school father — like my father figure at school. But he’s definitely had the biggest influence on me out of everyone that I can think of at the school level. He’s very focused on the betterment of not only the athlete but also the student.”

What’s next for Gilvary?

Gilvary plans to study business administration with a focus on sports management at the University of Florida starting this fall.

The University of Florida has been one of Gilvary’s dream schools for as long as he can remember. And for choosing a major, Gilvary has Halliday to thank for that.

“When I joined the running team under Coach Halliday, seeing the operations of a team and kind of all the logistics of it made me want to do something in sports,” he said. “And I’ve always loved business and finance and the background of business, so sports management kind of combines those two, like, you’ll be in the sports realm, but you won’t necessarily be on the front lines.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler Palm Coast grad reflects on importance of community