This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Patch Whiz Kid: Tyler Saleck

Loudoun County High School senior combines academic excellence, athletic prowess and service to the community

 

Tyler’s “key to awesomeness,” neighbor Bob Longo said, is his dedication to excellence in everything he does. “Tyler is a great kid from a great Loudoun County family who deserves recognition.”

We agreed, and sat down with Tyler for a chat about his accomplishments here and plans for the future.  He’ll join the Air Force Academy Class of 2015 on June 23.

Find out what's happening in Leesburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Choosing the Air Force Academy came naturally for Tyler. His mother, Leslee, and father, Joe, graduated from the academy in 1989 (he was born in Abilene, Texas, where both parents were on active duty). When the academy reached out to him to talk about playing baseball there, he said “yes” pretty fast and has a Presidential Nomination.

Tyler describes the campus in Colorado Springs, as “gorgeous. Everyone there was welcoming. You could tell the staff, everyone there, even when they are hard on people, they want them to succeed. It was impressive, and all the cadets were so well-mannered and disciplined.”

Find out what's happening in Leesburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Here in Loudoun, Tyler plays third base, and sometimes pitches, on the Loudoun County High baseball team, and also on the Loudoun Hawks travel team.

Why baseball? He admits he’s “not very fast and I can’t jump.” His father played baseball at the academy, and Tyler has been playing from a very early age. In Ohio, where the family was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, “all my friends played and it started out really fun for me. I am naturally good at it, but definitely had to work hard at it. I just have a good time.”

He’s not a one-sport wonder, either. He just finished up the basketball season, playing power forward his senior year.

And he’s no slouch in the classroom – he’ll graduate in the top 10 of his class academically, and is taking AP Language and Composition and AP Calculus. His course roster includes US Government, International relations, Philosophy, Post-World War II History and Economics. He’s a junior member of the National Honor Society, and is in the Key Club and the Spanish Honor Society.

He’s a little overwhelmed right now at the range of career options he will have at the Air Force Academy. “There are so many thing to do, it’s hard to pick, but I thought that was a good thing. I know I want to do something with the military – maybe fly, combat control, maybe special ops.”

Remember the name: Tyler Saleck, Patch’s Whiz Kid.

 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?