Attitude Change Raises Confidence, Grades Danielle Bechtel Made A Choice To Study Much Harder After Spending Summer In School

Class of ‘99 Special graduation edition

Medium.

That’s how Danielle Bechtel describes herself. Medium. Medium hair, medium height. Medium everything.

It is how sees herself, but it is not how others see her. This shy, quiet 19-year-old’s soft spirit has been a phoenix of hope at Post Falls High School.

Bechtel considers herself an outsider here at this school of 1,100.

But to her counselors, she is the epitome of what a little hard work can bring.

“School doesn’t come easy to Danielle. She has to work really hard at it,” said Kris Olson, a counselor at the school. “She has really turned it around and is on very stable ground. There is no doubt that she will graduate this June.”

Bechtel started her high school years digging a hole. She failed some classes, got some D’s and was pretty negative about school, Olson said. Then came summer school.

“I said there is no way I’m blowing my summer again,” Bechtel said in a recent interview.

So she started filling in the hole. From the C’s, D’s and F’s of her freshman and sophomore year, come the A’s and B’s that fill her report cards now.

“I know that I’m going to have to work the rest of my life,” she said. And you can’t do anything without college or at least a GED.”

Still, she says matter-of-factly: “I hate school. But I guess my attitude has changed some. I used to feel like I was nothing. I didn’t care what I did or what other people thought of me. Now I’m more positive. Maybe a little more confident.”

Bechtel credits a particular teacher, her parents and her family.

“I’ve always had people to help me,” she said. “People have always been there for me. Mrs. (Sue) Lauer (the study skills teacher) has helped me a lot. She always told me to do good and not think of the bad.”

And the carrot offered by her folks was a motivator, too.

“My parents said if I could make the honor roll, they’d get me a car,” she said with a smile. “I got a Jeep. I can’t wait for summer.

I’ll take the top off and ride.”

Bechtel works 20 to 25 hours each week in her mother’s day-care center in Post Falls.

“I like little kids,” she said. “Babies and 2-year-olds especially. They are just learning to talk and be big.”

Next year, Danielle will enter North Idaho College on an academic scholarship from the Private Industry Council to be a medical receptionist.

“It surprised me big when I got that scholarship,” she said. “I always wanted to go into something medical.”

And asked if she was prepared for life outside of high school, she said: “I guess I am now. I’m about in the middle. You know, ready and not ready.”

Kind of medium.

MY HERO My parents have always been my role model. They always told me I could do better and so I try to make them happy. - Danielle Bechtel