For valedictorian, helping out in his hometown means more than academic, athletic feats

He’s a star football and baseball player, homecoming king and valedictorian. But that’s not what matters to Indian Springs High School senior Ryan Frank.

He has the kind of character and country charisma that comes from growing up in a tiny town.

Indian Springs is easy to miss in the open desert along U.S. Highway 95, north of Las Vegas.

Fewer than 1,000 folks call it home. The class of 2016 has 16 graduates.

Ryan’s more proud of the time he’s given away during high school, not his long list of athletic and academic achievements. He counts coaching an elementary-school football team as the most meaningful experience.

“Those little kids brought me so much joy,” he said. “If I had a bad day, they brightened it.”

The 19-year-old also does yard work for the elderly and delivers food to those who need it. Pastor Kimberly Guerino said she counts on his help at Echos of Faith church.

“He’s my muscles,” she said.

Last year, Ryan was voted homecoming prince but gave the title to a classmate who’d been picked on.

“I thought, ‘That kid needs to be the star,’” Ryan said.

Ryan is an outdoorsman, hunting, riding dirt bikes and taking landscape photos. He, of course, learned to make his own fun in his one-horse hometown. On a hunting trip to Idaho with his grandfather Phil Frank a few years ago, Ryan shot a black bear.

He brought back dozens of pounds of steaks to feed his family. The meat wasn’t very tasty, but he ate it anyway.

“The animal gave up its life,” he said. “You have to honor and respect that.”

Ryan plans to go to Nevada State College in Henderson and eventually transfer to the U.S. Air Force Academy. He wants to work as a game warden, protecting land and wildlife.

His mother, Lara Frank, said he took odd jobs to help the family during tough times. She’s a cancer and brain tumor survivor. During her fight for her life in 2010, her husband, Robert Linfoot, was hurt in an all-terrain vehicle accident. They lost their home in 2011.

“Instead of getting into trouble, Ryan stepped up,” Lara Frank said. “He just picks up the pieces.”

He earned money to pay for afterschool activites for himself and his sister Hailey Linfoot, 15.

Ryan’s father and stepmother, Jeffrey and Jerilea Caldwell, younger sister, Brytnee, and brother, Cayce, live in Las Vegas.

His graduation on June 1 marks the family’s third generation of Thunderbirds.

“He’s going to go places,” said Dottie Frank, his grandmother and longtime school secretary.

Contact Amy Nile at anile@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Find @AmyNileReports on Twitter.