School had just ended in late May — a busy school year for Caroline Mank — and the recent Lakeland High School graduate had no immediate plans. So at the last minute she signed up to be a counselor at an all-girls Christian summer camp, and the next morning she was at the airport ready to fly out to spend six weeks in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
“I was debating about signing on to come work here, but then I was like if I stay at home like I’m just going to be bored,” Mank said by phone on a day off last week from North Carolina. “I need something going on.”
Mank certainly always had something going on. A two-sports standout in volleyball and soccer, Mank also was involved in numerous extracirricular and community service activities all while maintaining all A’s — her last B was in second grade — and graduating as Salutatorian with a 4.647 GPA.
Mank is The Ledger’s 2024-25 Girls Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Although she always excelled in academics, there’s nothing like some sibling competition to provide that extra push of motivation
“Actually my drive for academics came originally from just wanting to beat out my older brother,” she said. “He graduated in 2023 and he’s extraordinarily smart. Growing up, all my teachers were like, ‘I hope you’re as good as your brother.’ And so that’s where I really started to push myself. He actually was third in his class and I was second, so I guess you could say mission accomplished.”
Being Salutatorian came a bit of a surprise as she didn’t think she’d catch the student that had been in second place. It capped an incredible senior year that also so her become a Silver Garland winner. And Lakeland principal Alain Douge. had a bit of fun at Mank’s expense when she took over second in her class.
“I did not think I was gonna get it because was behind the entire year, and I had actually completely given up on the fact that I would be second,” she said. “And then somehow, one final class pushed me ahead of him by like 0.003 or something. And so that was just a whirlwind. My principal Mr. DJ prank-called me and told me I missed a final, and I had to come into school right now and take it. He was laughing and then delivered the good news. So it was just a really fun experience.”
Silver Garland and being salutatorian were just two of the multiple honors accorded Mank her senior year. Others include being a Florida Bright Futures Academic Scholar and earning the Superintendent’s Scholar Medallion among many others. All this was achieved while being active in community service.
As part of activities that earned her the Silver Garland, she started Team Julia for the American Heart Association’s annual heart walk in honor of former teammate Julia Black, who died in 2023. More than 100 walker have come out the past two years.
“It’s a great tie for us to remember her as a community,” Mank said.
Mank also started a pickleball club and helped as a volunteer with No Limits.
“I always like being involved in everything,” she said. “I didn’t really like seeing something that I thought was fun and not being a part of it. So going into Lakeland (High School), I just like made it my mission to get involved in anything I could. And as I met more people and like made more connections, I kind of just started like getting a foot in everything that was going on around. So I have kind of a lot going on.”
In the classroom, she said reading and English came pretty easily while Math could be a grind.
“I would never say that school was easy,” she said. “I would just say that I was a hard worker, so that’s why it came easier than it would to some other people in that sense. But I came close to getting a B in math sometimes, but, I just, I wouldn’t let myself get that B. I would just keep working and never got a B.”
In the fall, Mank is his headed to the University of Florida where she’ll study political science and public policy, and she intends to go to law school. Becoming a lawyer originally was a career path she planned to avoid as both her parents are lawyers. However, in her junior year, she got involved with the Randy Robertss Foundation, which is about getting youth involved in different forms of government. She went on a five-day trip to Washington D.C., met with senators and toured the Pentagon
“We got to see completely different aspects of the law and our government and that’s what really piqued my interest in it and made me want to go into law or become a lawyer,” she said. “I’m not really sure where the path is going to take me after that, but I’m definitely interested in this like general area.”
Athletically, she was a gymnast growing up then switched to volleyball. She was third-team, all-county as a junior. Her two best friends were soccer players and convinced her to go out for soccer as a goalkeeper after the previous keeper graduated. She was the starting goalkeeper her junior season, her first season of soccer, when Lakeland was the district title.
Mank is very vocal about at the value of team sports.”
“I think team sports are something everyone should do because I truly do not think you will find an environment like that where you have to learn patience, learn to work with other people and learn that sometimes your opinion is not always the opinion that everyone agrees with,” Mank said. “And that especially from coaches when you’re getting constructive criticism, you have to learn that it’s OK, they’re not saying this in a mean way. They’re trying to help me out. You’re learning how to take feedback and you’re learning how to work with other people your age and how to deliver feedback yourself without making it like seem like it’s harsh. I could go on for forever about how team sports helped me like learn um very useful life skills.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Mank stayed involved in many activities but still graduated as Lakeland’s salutatorian
Reporting by Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
