Madison native top of AFA class

Second Lieutenant Zachary Bailey, of Madison, Miss., finished at the top of his 2020 graduating class of more than 950 cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado on April 18 to begin an initial five-year career in the Air Force. Bailey says he’s equally “proud of the habits I developed along the way.” Zack is the son of Keith and Suzanne Bailey of Madison. His mother says her son has a knack for working with others and attributed part of his academic success to his role as a tutor at the academy. Top of the class positioning is determined by a weighted combination of a cadet's academic success, represented by their grade point average, as well as scores in military proficiency and physical fitness. Bailey finished with the highest GPA in his class at 4.0 and has been the top of his class at the end of every semester while in Colorado Springs. “It wasn’t something I set out to do,” Bailey says. “I knew I would be in school with kids from all over, and being from Mississippi, I just wanted to do the best I could.” Bailey went to Madison Central where he played on a state championship soccer team and graduated valedictorian in 2016. (Source: Madison County Journal 06/17/20) http://www.onlinemadison.com/Content/Default/Rotator/Article/Madison-s-Bailey-1-at-Air-Force-Academy/-3/593/43623