Creative, talented, and smart are just a few words people have used to describe Daniel Andrews. Andrews is a junior at West and has made a positive impact on so many students and staff here. Andrew’s favorite thing about West is the teachers. For fun he likes to paint and he was involved in the art club last year.

Recently, Andrew’s brother Kel came back from military training on October 5th to surprise him. K. Andrews was waiting for him in the office, while the staff called his brother down. 

“I’ve been training for about 8 months and around 2 months ago I got a ship date. I didn’t want to tell any of my family because I wanted to come home and surprise them all,” K. Andrews said.

K. Andrews had been looking forward to surprising his mom and brother for a while. He told his friend and his sister his plan before he did it. After he surprised Daniel, he surprised his mom at home that night.

“Around 3 or 4 weeks ago I told my friend that I was coming home, and I wanted to surprise Daniel at school. I kind of kept him in the dark and told him I was coming home in 2 weeks,” K. Andrews said.

The office just called Daniel down and didn’t tell him why. He said that he just went down there without thinking. Daniel said he talked to his brother all the time while he was gone. He said they talked on the phone twice a week and were constantly texting back and forth.

“It’s kind of crazy because my sister is coming home today from North Carolina, so I wasn’t expecting both of them to be here,” D. Andrews said.

One of Daniel’s interests is art. One of his teachers took notice of his talents and was very impressed. Mrs. Burns met Daniel last school year.

“Daniel is very artistic and very smart. He is so talented. The first time he showed me his paintings and drawings, I was amazed. I watched him take a plain piece of paper and draw delightful pictures just from a pencil and his mind. I hope he continues with his art after high school. But, whatever he decides to do, Daniel will make an impact,” Burns said.

Daniel is a bright light to everyone he meets. He is leaving his mark at West and influencing everyone along the way. 

“Daniel is perseverant. He does not let factors or challenges he cannot control stand in his way of being successful. He keeps going. When I first met Daniel, I knew he was going to do great things. He is inquisitive and interested in learning. Daniel is also very optimistic and kind. He always tries to see the positive side of a situation instead of focusing on the negatives,” Burns said.