FDNY-focused high school valedictorian overcame abuse to shine in the classroom: ‘Defying the odds’
The future generation of Big Apple firefighters is hot on “resilience.”
The valedictorian of an FDNY-focused high school in Brooklyn described how she overcame an “abusive” household and found “sanctuary” in the classroom — as she and dozens of other students gleefully graduated Wednesday.
“Growing up in an abusive family, life often felt like navigating a storm with no end in sight,” Kailey Frank, 17, top of her class at the Captain Vernon A. Richard High School for Fire and Life Safety, said in an inspiring commencement speech.
“Yet in those darkest moments I discovered a strength that I never knew I had,” Frank, of Park Slope, declared. “Education became my sanctuary, a place where I could escape the turmoil and find solace in knowledge… My teachers and mentors became my guiding lights.”
The tough-as-nails teen later told The Post, “This is my way of defying the odds.”
Frank and 32 other jubilant grads were cheered on by a raucous crowd of friends and family at the FDNY Training Academy on Randall’s Island during the ceremony.
Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh gave a speech praising the class of 2024 for sticking it out during the COVID pandemic that took away their social lives and normal classroom routine.
“Throughout unprecedented times marked by disruptions caused by the pandemic, you have already learned about the unpredictability in life,” Kavanagh told the grads.
“In the midst of your first year, the usual routines—spending time with friends and family, going out, and simply being a regular teenager—came to a halt. Despite these challenges, you persevered, and your graduation today is a testament to your adaptability and resilience, two traits that are essential in the FDNY,” she said.
“You can make plans, do everything right, but unexpected challenges will inevitably arise,” she stressed.
Overall, a total 21 of the graduates have completed the FDNY entry exam prep course and nine are moving on to the FDNY Youth Summer EMS Academy.
Frank said she plans to start Youth Summer EMS Academy classes in July. She aspires to become a first responder.
“I just want to be an example for all the other little girls out there who don’t feel like they can do it,” she said. “Impossible is always possible.”
Of her turbulent family life, she said she and her mother, “Don’t have a good relationship.”
“That was definitely a challenge, especially seeing other little girls having their mom in their life,” she said, without elaborating on the alleged abuse.
“Sometimes I wish I had a mom to support me, but at the same time I just had to face my adversities head on,” Frank said.
“I couldn’t be defined by – ‘Oh yeah, she has an abusive parent,’” she said. “I want to show the world that you’re more than your struggles, you’re more than your challenges.”
Captain Vernon A. Richard High School is named in honor of a Brooklyn-born FDNY firefighter who was killed on 9/11.
