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Wolf Always Gives Her All

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By CLIFF GILL

Tribune correspondent

Published: February 22, 2009

HOLIDAY - Whether it's athletics, academics or volunteering after school, Kaylee Wolf does it wholeheartedly.

She started playing volleyball at Holiday Recreational Center when she was in fifth grade. When she reached seventh grade, she joined the Gulf Middle School team.

"There's a huge adrenaline rush, diving for the ball, making a good pass to the setter and then instinctively getting back up," she said. "Trying my hardest is the way I try to do everything."

By her sophomore year at Gulf High, she was the starting defensive specialist and was named team captain. One of her coaches, Shari Schau, talked about Wolf's effort.

"Kaylee worked overtime in athletics and gave us her all, whether it was in practice, warm-ups or games," Schau said. "She also assisted Coach Barbara Munday and me with volleyball camps her freshman and sophomore years. She worked extremely hard with the younger players, helping and motivating them to improve."

As an eighth-grader, Wolf joined the cheerleading team.

"Being a cheerleader allowed me to attend games in several sports," Wolf said. "It also taught me an important lesson in teamwork and the importance of working together. If one person is off, even by a half-second, it can impact the whole team."

Gulf's junior varsity cheerleading coach, Roxanne Buonsanto, had high praise for Wolf.

"Kaylee was chosen captain for several reasons," Buonsanto said. "In addition to her leadership and natural ability, she was phenomenal at record-keeping and attention to details, which helped the team execute their stunts correctly. She always made herself available to for any issue while keeping her grades up academically."

Wolf has a weighted 4.05 grade-point average that includes Advanced Placement classes in U.S. History and Language and Composition and honors classes in Spanish, Pre-Calculus and Chemistry.

"My parents have always taught me to make studies my highest priority," Wolf said. "When I get home, the first thing I do is my homework, and I don't go anywhere or do anything until it's done. My family also helps me with school projects. My younger sister, Lizzie, pastes and types some of the projects for me."

Her teachers say Wolf is an outstanding student.

"I had Kaylee for honors Geometry two years ago," Barry Zions said. "She was always striving to excel. Because of her desire to learn, she became a class leader. When her average was about an 88, she decided that a high 'B' was not good enough, so she would come to me for extra help after school, at least twice a week. "When her classmates saw her improvement, she told them to come with her. She would bring several of them in for extra help with her. They would sit in the room and work problems that I would put on the board for them. Then, they would cooperatively work on their homework, discussing methods to solve the problems. It was at this point that Kaylee understood the difference in effectiveness between studying hard and studying smart."

Wolf, a member of the National Honor Society and the Math Honor Society, has been an honor student since sixth grade. She credits others for her success in school.

"I am fortunate that we have such outstanding teachers at Gulf," she said. "They are always available for help and to stay after school for additional tutoring."

Volunteering is another area where Wolf gives a wholehearted effort. At the beginning of the school year, she received permission to form the Keep Gulf High Green Club.

"We pick up recyclable bottles and cans after sporting events," Wolf said. "We're also trying to adopt a mile of highway to keep it clean."

"Although I've never had the pleasure of being Kaylee's teacher, she has volunteered in my classroom on many occasions, helping me with anything I have asked her to do," said Gulf Middle language arts teacher Daniela Bruno. "She comes in after school whenever she has time and helped me during the summer when I moved to a new classroom. Kaylee announced for me during our home basketball games this season in between working the concession stands, which she does at every home sporting event."

On Valentine's Day, Wolf and her classmates visited a nursing home and presented a carnation to each of the residents.

"It felt good to make people happy," she said. "Plus, it demonstrated that teens care about others."

She helped raise funds to support Relay For Life. In March 2008, she cut off 11 inches of her hair to donate it to children with cancer.

Gulf High principal Steve Knobl summed up the sentiments of his administration and staff.

"I have known Kaylee since her days at Gulf Middle School," Knobl said. "She is an amazing young lady. She is a student leader and is involved in Student Council, National Honor Society, the Green Club and many other organizations and sports. When I started as principal last June, Kaylee was one of the first student leaders to join me for a campus pride event on campus. We painted, picked weeds and beautified our school. I am so happy that we have her for another year at Gulf High School.

"She is talented and passionate. She embodies school spirit and has the will to make a positive impact on many things and on many people."

Teachers, coaches: If you would like to nominate an outstanding student-athlete to be featured in an upcoming In The Community article, contact Cliff Gill at

reportercliffgill@yahoo.com or (727) 860-4903.

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