Pekin senior Lane Bayliss

Lane Bayliss is a graduate in the spotlight. He is the son of Tony and Julie Bayliss and has two siblings, Tyler and Emma.

Lane was involved in FFA while he was in school. He also stayed busy as a farm hand at Bayliss Farms by Hedrick and as a Technician Intern at J.J. Nichting Company in Sigourney.

What's your favorite school memory/OR what will you remember the most? What I will remember the most is when we got a call telling us that school would be off for COVID-19 in March of 2020, and we wouldn't go back until the fall.

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be? I would probably change some of the classes I took earlier in high school, because looking back I see some missed opportunities than would have been fun and beneficial.

Finish this sentence: "I could not live without..." My family and friends.

What's the best and/or worst thing about being a senior? The best part about being a senior is finally finishing school and being ready to move onto a higher education and career.

Which teacher or staff member has had the biggest impact on you and why? Mr. Jones has had the biggest impact on me because of what he has done for me through education, and other opportunities such as National FFA Convention, and the opportunity to run the FFA plot field and make decisions regarding it and being able to learn and have fun with it, and then take home what I learn to my family farm.

Advice to incoming high school freshmen: My advice would be to load your schedule with required classes and any classes that you would want to take and avoid study halls so once you’re a junior and senior you can have an open and relaxed schedule to relieve stress and enjoy school more.

What are your plans after graduation? I plan to continue working as a Technician Intern at J.J. Nichting Company over the summer between high school and college. Then in the fall, I plan to attend Kirkwood Community College to major in Diesel Ag Technology. Following my 2 years of college, I plan to come back home and work full time at J.J. Nichting as a Service Technician. While working full time I also plan to work on the family farm and hopefully take over the farm and carry on the family tradition.

What is one outrageous thing you want to try in your lifetime? I think skydiving would be a very fun and wild experience.

If you could move anywhere in the world, where would you go AND why? Somewhere in the Southern United States where its warm and there is a lot of fun things to do such as Florida, Texas or Arizona.

Who has been your biggest influence AND why? My dad has been my biggest influence because he has helped me all through life with school, the farm, building my skills, and has helped make me into the person I am today. He has also given me many opportunities to learn, build work ethic, and make decisions regarding the farm.