—Submitted photo Aaron graves (center) stands with his parents, Amber and Mark Graves. Graves, a senior at Southeast Valley, graduated with his Assoicates of Arts degree from Iowa Central Community College two weeks before finishing at Southeast Valley.

If there is an obstacle in front of him or challenge that seems too steep, Aaron Graves has no hesitation when given the opportunity to accept the challenge head-on.

The Southeast Valley senior’s accomplishments in the athletic realm are well-documented, but when all-state recognition in athletics is added to the efforts in the classroom, Graves is truly the head of his class.

Graves, who has committed to the University of Iowa to play football, will be one of a handful of valedictorians for Southeast Valley High School. And while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average and competing in football, basketball, wrestling and track, he decided to tackle one more academic task.

Before even entering the halls at Southeast Valley, Graves had the idea of earning his Associate of Arts Degree from Iowa Central Commuinty College.

When ICCC president Jesse Ulrich was handing out pre-graduation cerermony diplomas earlier in the week, Graves was in attendance. He knew he’d have to miss Thursday’s ceremony in-person, because the Jaguars had a track meet and Graves was competing in the shot put and discus events.

A week earlier, Graves was inducted into the National Honor Society for maintaining a 3.5 cumulative GPA as an Iowa Central student.

Graves’ mother, Amber, has been instrumental in setting up the schedule and preparing Aaron for the last four years of achieving his goal.

“For me, the process was extremely easy,” Aaron said. “My mom laid out the exact classes and schedule that I would need to get my A.A. by the time I graduate high school…all I had to do was show up to class and do the work.

“She made everything so easy for me. I’m blessed I have a mom like her in my life.”

The process of juggle both high school and college coursework became a team effort.

“He’s been taking summer classes for the last three summers. It wasn’t until the last year and a half that we thought it might all work out,” Amber said. “The staff at Iowa Central and Southeast Valley have been amazing at helping to put the pieces together and make this happen.”

Graves’ journey started during his freshman year at SV.

“He was taking dual-credit classes at the high school as a freshman. He was allowed to do that since he was in TAG. Those classes went well, so he took a summer class,” Amber said. “That was his first online class — and there was a huge learning curve with that — but the Iowa Central online learning staff was so very helpful to get him on the right track. He took classes as a sophomore, then COVID hit. He took another online class in the summer that year.

“He added more online classes as well as in person at the high school during his junior year. His senior year, he did take speech and anatomy and physiology II in person on campus. The rest were either at the high school or online.”

Graves’ athletic success throughout his career helped with his attention to time management.

“He came up with a system to get things done, along with the workouts and competitions,” Amber said. “It was just kind of normal to him, as he had been working on doing it through all of high school.

“He has always been a good student and enjoyed learning, so we knew he was capable and we encouraged him to give it a try.”

During his athletic career at Southeast Valley, Graves etched his name into the school’s all-time record books. He was a three-time first-team all-state football player, helping lead the Jaguars to their first ever-state football championship. Graves was also a third team all-state basketball player and fourth-place state wrestler at heavyweight.

Graves was the 2021 Iowa Football Coaches Association 2A player of the year, as well as the Iowa Gatorade football player of the year. He finished as the school’s all-time scoring leader in basketball while also competing in wrestling for the last two years of his prep career.

For Graves, it wasn’t about the accolades or awards. He just wanted to challenge himself each and every day.

“It was just like anything I do in athletics. It took consistent work over a long period of time to accomplish it,” Aaron said. “You see guys in sports who only do the work during the season, and out of it, they are lazy and don’t do what is necessary.

“Same can be applied with school. If you only do the minimum, you’ll continue to stay mediocre in your grades and accomplishments. For me, however, the process became easy because I expect a lot out of myself.”

Aaron’s dad, Mark, was by his side as defensive coordinator during Southeast Valley’s title run. He said his son has been busy his entire life.

“Ever since he was a little kid, he was always busy,” Mark said. “Things just seem to come naturally to him…he learned how to organize and prioritize at an early age.”

The balance between athletics and school was never difficult for Graves to solve.

“When he was in fifth grade he scored a 16 or 17 on his ACT, and in eighth grade, he had a 20 or 21,” Mark said. “He took advanced classes at Iowa Central, who was awesome throughout the whole process.”

The only area where Graves tends to fall behind is in completing chores at home.

“It comes up all the time,” Mark said. “He’ll have some duty at home that he’s been telling me for three days that he’ll get done, but then he has three hours of homework, so he will get his little brother or me or his mom to do it for him.

“He stays up until midnight or so to do homework, then gets up early for workouts. He has everything planned out, including a nap schedule.”

After the track season is finished, Graves will head to Iowa City. He plays in the Shrine game this July as a representatve of Southeast Valley.

Even with a bright future on the gridiron ahead of him, the work in the classroom is priority number one.

“His goal is to get his masters degree while at Iowa,” Amber said. “We are just so proud of him for sticking with it and taking his academic life seriously.”