One family crowds school's top 10 - Triplets will graduate first, third and eighth in their senior class
Dallas Morning News, The (TX) - Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Author: MATT PETERSON, Staff Writer [email protected]

Eighteen years ago, Kody was first, but now that distinction is Gray's, and his brother and sister couldn't be happier for him - sibling rivalry aside.

The Jackson triplets will all graduate among the top 10 students in their class next week at Newman Smith High School in Carrollton. Gray is valedictorian. Kody, the first-born, is No. 3, and their sister, Maddie, is eighth.

Now, after years of measuring themselves against one another, they're going their separate ways, to three universities in three states.

"It's hard to see them split up because they are so close," said their mother, Leslie Jackson. But for these siblings, independence has been elusive, and three's a crowd.

"We shared the same school, same friends, the same car, same job," said Maddie, who will attend the University of Oklahoma.

"Other people can get away from their siblings, at least at school, but we all have classes together."

Kody will stay in Texas to attend Baylor University, while Gray is headed to Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

"I think we will all do better when we have time apart," Maddie said.

The Jacksons have excelled together, forming their own "built-in study group" and challenging one another academically.

"There's definitely some competition going on, but it's all friendly," said Ross Evans, who teaches math and Academic Decathlon at Newman Smith .

They clearly revel in one another's accomplishments, their teacher said. Both boys are National Merit finalists, and Maddie is heavily involved in extracurricular activities.

"When they announced the valedictorian at the honors breakfast, Kody celebrated more than Gray did because he was so proud of what his brother had accomplished," Evans said.

The triplets credit their parents for their success, too.

And they had plenty of encouragement from their peers, their mother noted.

"When you look at the kids in the top 10 percent at Newman Smith ," she said, "that really probably urged them on."

The Jacksons aren't the only multiples at the high school, which boasts two sets of twins and even quadruplets, the Himmelspachs.

"They stole our thunder," joked Gray, who shares many features with his brother.

Not only do Kody and Gray look alike, said Evans, who has taught each of the triplets, but they also think alike.

"On test days it was uncanny that they would make almost the identical errors on the tests," he said, although errors have been few and far between.

But there's no use playing any Parent Trap high jinks at Newman Smith .

"They can't get away with that around here," principal Joe Pouncy said. "Because I'm used to that because I have a twin brother."