Escambia Academy’s valedictorian and salutatorian said studying and working hard will help guarantee a bright future.

“It kind of determines where you want to go, what you want to major in and how motivated you are,” Salutatorian Saige Garrett said.

Valedictorian Noah Blue said the work one puts into getting an education helps assure one’s future in the world.

“It’ll give you assurance for a good future,” Blue said.

Blue and Garrett are the top two in a class of 26.

Blue is graduating with a 4.69 grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale. Garrett is graduating with a 4.3.

While they’ve been in the same class since the seventh grade, the seniors said they started competing with each other recently.

“It’s really close,” Garrett said when asked who is the smartest. “We started competing against each other at the beginning of this year.”

Blue said it was 12th grade English that put his GPA over the top for sure.

Next year, Blue is attending to Faulkner State Community College in Bay Minette, where he’ll start studying to become an engineer.

Garrett is attending Pensacola State College to pursue a degree in nursing.

Blue is the son of Erin and Wesley Davis, and Garrett is the daughter of Tammy and Jamie Garrett, all of Atmore.