25. McNair graduated as class valedictorian in 1967
Unsurprisingly, McNair was an outstanding student at Carver, and graduated as class valedictorian. But though school was an absolute breeze for him, you have to give his parents credit for keeping him focused. Many talented children get bored of school if it’s too easy, and fall off the rails. When Ronald was a boy, there were no schemes to help gifted children. Instead, Pearl and Carl worked their backsides off to buy encyclopedias for their children. They kept this future astronaut grounded by teaching him the value of hard work and helping others. Boy, did he fly with their help?
