Kimball Russel wins Distinguished Student Award

You don’t see many teenagers taking up the bagpipes as their instrument of choice, but Madison High School senior Kimball Russell has good reason to.

“Almost all my family history is Scottish, so that’s been huge to me being part of a Scottish heritage and I’ve always just loved the noise they make,” Russell said.

Russell finds there are actually lots of opportunities to perform.

“It can range from funerals to weddings to competitions, whether it be solo or in a band setting,” Russell said.

Besides bagpipes Russell has another passion.

“I love to play soccer,” Russel said. “I played on the varsity team this year as a starting forward and the coaches were great this year and the players. We had a great team. We went to state.”

In school Russell takes the toughest AP and honors classes. Academically Russell is ranked No. 1 out of 356 seniors with a GPA of 4.21 and an ACT score of 35.

“It gives some self fulfillment that you did your best and gave your perfect effort,” Russell said.

Russell’s advice for being happy and successful in high school is to work with your teachers, find good friends and find activities you love to do.