Life-changing experience

Like many of his classmates at the time, Casey Dragon split his first few high school years between sports, schoolwork and carefree interludes with friends.

Midway through his junior year, however, an 8-pound, 3-ounce addition changed everything. In January 2007, Dragon and girlfriend Lindsey Franks, both Post Falls High School seniors graduating this month, welcomed their baby daughter, Riley. For the 6-foot star athlete, a varsity quarterback and baseball pitcher, with the newborn came a whole new outlook on life – and a renewed focus on his post-high school plans.

“I actually have a daughter, so that’s changed things a little bit. I think I’ve become a better student because of her. I actually got a 4.0 my first semester after she was born,” said Dragon, who will wrap up his high school career with a 3.86 grade-point average. About raising a daughter as teenagers, Dragon said, “I definitely wouldn’t recommend it … I got some looks in the halls and stuff, but I wouldn’t change anything.”

In the months since Riley’s birth, Dragon and Franks learned to tailor their routines around their daughter. While he continued to play an important role on the Trojans’ football and baseball teams, he also added dual-enrollment courses through North Idaho College his senior year to speed up his long-held goal of a career in the medical field, which was inspired by his parents who are both nurses. Franks also boosted her grade-point average even as the two worked part-time jobs and shuttled back and forth from each other’s homes to raise their daughter.

“My life is definitely hectic, it’s still hectic. But I’m glad I made it through high school,” Dragon said, “because now I’m not just doing it for myself, but for my daughter as well. The harder I work, the better off she’ll be.”

Though they faced hard times, and as Dragon approached a life-changing experience of becoming a man, “they were both very responsible as young parents,” said Jeff Hinz, a Post Falls High School government teacher and Dragon’s football coach. “There is a quality about Casey as a stand-up guy … The bottom line is they did the right thing.”

For those close to the couple, they said they’ve taken on their double duties almost without skipping a beat. Once the initial shock and emotional moments of telling their families about the pregnancy had passed, their families and friends said they could see both teens transform before their eyes.

“Both he and Lindsey have stepped up with their educations. It really is amazing how they reorganized their lives since having Riley, between sports, school, friends – everything. They are very uplifting,” said Dragon’s mom, Trease Dragon.

Added Dragon’s dad, Brad, “You could really see them mature when Riley came along … They are very supportive of each other.”

Dragon’s dedication to his studies paid off, his parents added, as he was offered a $30,000 scholarship to attend Gonzaga University, which he’s since decided to turn down to pursue a nursing degree closer to home.

Their son, however, is quick to point out the only way he shouldered the dual loads of parenting and schoolwork was with the support of friends and family, including his younger sister Abby, longtime girlfriend and her parents and grandparents, who Riley refers to as “G.G.”

“They never gave up when Riley was born, they never gave up on me,” Casey Dragon recalled. “Without my parents and without Lindsey’s parents I wouldn’t have made it through high school. I’m really close to her and her family; they’ve been awesome.”

When asked about the difficulty in raising a daughter, Dragon speaks modestly and candidly about his altered everyday life. The hardest part, the doting father said through a wide smile, “is being away from her when I’m at school or at work. But I guess that’s the way it is with all parents.”

With one year of college out of the way, Dragon plans on finishing another year at NIC and then transferring to Spokane Community College. As for any advice he’d offer to others, he said, “Get an education, try as hard as you can. It might now seem like it pays off right away, but it does in the end.”