Orange County High School senior Brittany Garton will return to Romania after graduation, to do mission work. The traditional Romanian and Gypsy clothing she's wearing came from previous trips to the country. ben fredman/THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Orange County High graduate will spend summer spreading Gospel to Gypsies in Romania

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

Date published: 6/3/2008

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

Brittany Garton has followed her parents into mission work. And after Saturday's graduation from Orange County High School, she will leave on her sixth trip to Romania.

"I saw how much they loved it," the 18-year-old senior said recently, "and I wanted to go. God probably had a lot to do with it."

She plans to continue her mission work and move to Romania eventually. But first she will return home in August to attend Bluefield College, a self-described Christ-centered, liberal-arts college in southwest Virginia.

Garton plans to major in Christian studies with a concentration in children's ministries and a double minor in business administration and children's theater.

She will be going into college as a sophomore and will finish her studies in three years, thanks to her dual-enrollment classes. She took mainly online classes through Germanna Community College in addition to spending her entire four years of high school as a student in the Blue Ridge Virtual Governor's School.

She will graduate in the top 10, probably at No. 6 in a class of 367 students.

She has balanced challenging academics with service to her school. She has been her class's treasurer for three years, and, for the first three years of high school she managed field hockey, basketball and baseball teams.

"I couldn't do it my senior year," she said, "because my work schedule got complicated."

For the past two years, Garton has worked as the evening and weekend receptionist at the Orange County Nursing Home.

"I learned a lot of patience there," she said. "I was kind of shy, but I learned how to interact with people in high emotional states."

For three years, she has co-chaired the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. This follows naturally from her having fun in "religious stuff."

Garton is an only child, "but I'm not spoiled," she said.

"My parents made sure that I wouldn't be. I was always with other kids and in church. My mom is a school librarian in Culpeper and my dad's a truck driver."

The family attends Gordonsville Baptist Church, where Garton has been active in youth groups and "a lot of Bible study."

ORANGE DAY: Saturday TIME: 9 a.m. PLACE: Paul M. Sizemore Field at Porterfield Park. In case of inclement weather, 11 a.m. at the Hornet Sports Center Throughout high school graduation season, The Free Lance-Star will be profiling one outstanding senior from each locality.

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Date published: 6/3/2008

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