Courtesy of the Irvine Family
By Briana Rupel
Beacon Correspondent
Burt Township senior and Excellence in Education scholarship recipient Katie Irvine has always had a strong work ethic — in fact, at the age of 8 she started her own business making chapstick.
“It was kind of just trial and error,” she said. Nearly a decade later, she’s still selling chapstick — while also attending high school, playing sports, working part-time and taking college courses.
It might seem like a lot, but Irvine finds her balance through a strong sense of structure picked up throughout her years of being homeschooled in Ortonville, Michigan, prior to her family’s move to Grand Marais in 2019.
“I’m very organized,” Irvine said. “Without structure, I’m like, ‘What direction am I going in?’”
Her desire for structure, plus strong organizational skills, allows her to explore her many interests — and challenge herself at the same time.
“I was really bored in high school,” Irvine said. “I had taken so many electives, but none of them were really my interests.”
So at 14, Irvine started a one-credit online college prep class through Bay College in Escanaba. The following year she took a sociology class as well as one that focused on online presentations.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do at first, so that was a little stressful,” she said. “But it was a challenge.”
Once she started a family and marriage class with another sociology course her junior year, she finally found the niche she wanted to pursue.
“That’s when I kind of started exploring the early childhood field because I was like, ‘This is kind of fun,’” she said. “The classes just started flowing. It feels like it’s fallen into place.”
Irvine credits former Burt Township Superintendent and Principal Tony Barnes for getting her started early on the college path.
“[He] was a huge advocate for me,” she said. “He was like, ‘You’ll be great at it. You have good grades.’ Olivia [Zech, former office secretary] was a huge help, too. She got me in all the classes. It took the stress off of my mom and I — I would just go in there, and she’d be like, ‘Here’s just what you need.’”
Now, in her final year, Irvine knows that everyone is still there to support her, but she feels independent and secure, and that has naturally made her a leader among her peers.
“Katie’s definitely the person students go to if they need something,” Principal Miranda McShane said. “All the kids look to her as a leader — especially the girls.”
One of the more unique aspects of attending such a small K-12 school (with 32 students in total) that Irvine appreciates is the mixed-grade classrooms.
“Depending on the year, you’re either the older of the class or the younger,” she said. “So you’re either motivation for the younger ones, or you can look up to the older ones.”
Sports are set up the same way. For instance, Irvine gets to play soccer on the same team with her two younger brothers, since many teams are co-ed and comprised of kids from sixth to 12th grades. Irvine feels this small-town structure prepares students to be more adaptable in the future.
“It sets you up for when you’re older in the workforce,” she said. “You’re either working with somebody who’s way older, or maybe they’re way younger. You just kind of know how to handle the age gap and be like, ‘They’re still a person.’”
In her final semester at Burt Township School, Irvine will focus on finishing up her two current college courses, helping out at her family’s business to prepare for the summer season and, of course, high school graduation is near on the horizon.
“I had a freakout when my mom was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. You graduate soon!’ It’s like, you spend your whole life going to school,” Irvine said. “Now where do I go?”
Irvine will graduate at 17 years old with around 30 college credits, halfway to what she needs to complete her associate degree at Bay College, which she plans on doing next.
“I’m going to finish this because I’m passionate about it, and I enjoy learning it,” she said.
With an associate degree under her belt by 18, Irvine said she could take a year break to travel and explore, or potentially transfer and continue her education.
“I’m still figuring it out,” she said. “I’m taking it day by day.”