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All in the Family: Minnetonka Graduate Is Third Generation Alum

Student Spotlight: When she walks onto the graduation stage, Marley McCarthy will be following in her mom's and grandparents' footsteps.

Marley McCarthy will don a graduation cap and gown next month, becoming the third generation of her family to graduate from Minnetonka. 

“It gives me an interesting view of school, knowing that my family grew up in the same place,” said McCarthy.  

Her mother, Tippy McInerny, is a 1981  graduate. Her grandparents, Mary Jane Peterson McInerny and Bob McInerny, graduated from Deephaven High in the late 1940s.

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Deephaven High later consolidated with Excelsior High into Minnetonka High School. 

The school has changed over the years, with additions and renovations from classrooms to arts and athletic facilities.  

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“I get lost there now,” said McCarthy's mom.

The Minnetonka student body has changed as well. 

“The way kids communicate has changed drastically with our use and dependence on technology,” noted McCarthy. 

At Minnetonka, McCarthy takes advanced placement classes and is on the honor roll. Her favorite classes are Sociology and Psychology.

“Mr. Moran and Mrs. Patrick have been great teachers,” said McCarthy. “They made what we learned in class easy to apply to life outside of the classroom.  It’s nice to learn about something in real world terms and not just out of a textbook.”

McCarthy shares her love of learning with Minneapolis elementary school children as a tutor with Backpack Tutoring.

She also participates in the school chapter of Deca, which aims to prepare future business leaders and entrepreneurs.

“Deca has given me a basic understanding of business,” she said. “It has helped with presenting and being able to articulate and elaborate on my own ideas.”

In college, McCarthy plans to major in business.

“Maybe something in buying and merchandising,” she said. “I enjoy working with people and have always been interested in consumer-based enterprises.  I like to look at how products are presented and what makes people buy.”

McCarthy will attend the University of Missouri this fall. She decided on Mizzou after visiting several schools.

“I loved the campus and the business school,” she said. “I got a sense of security from the business school having connections in the Twin Cities, since I hope to return to this area at some point after school.”

McCarthy is looking forward to the move to Columbia. “It is pretty similar to home, but warmer, which is just fine with me,” she said. “It's far enough away for me to be out of my comfort zone, but it’s close enough where seeing my friends and family isn’t too difficult.”

“I told Marley that I’d prefer she went away to college,” said T. McInerny.  “I went to the U and looking back, I wish I’d gone further from home.” 

As a college freshman, McCarthy will cast her first vote in a presidential election. “I’m excited to be able to participate in the process,” she said. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion and every opinion counts.”

But she won’t have much time off before college starts. She works as a nanny for a Deephaven family.  

“The kids I nanny are great,” she said.  “It is a challenge to take three personalities and priorities and make it all work.”

McCarthy is also on a slow-pitch softball team. She plays right field. 

“From there I could talk comfortably and watch my friends chase the ball,” she said. “I just play softball to have fun with my friends.”

Friendship is important to McCarthy. Her advice to freshmen: “Cultivate a group of friends you’re happy staying with throughout high school. It makes a world of difference.”

McCarthy enjoys watching movies and listening to music. “I like a lot of different music and artists, except the screamo heavy metal which is enough to make my ears bleed,” she said.

She values family too. “I’ll be sad to leave my family for college, but at this point I am ready to move on to something new,” she said.

With an Irish surname, you’d expect that McCarthy’s family would go all out for St. Patrick’s Day.  But, she said, “We’re Irish every day.”

But her food tastes are purely American. Her favorites? “Chicken strips and ice cream,” she said. “I’m a cheap date.” 

She doesn’t overdo it on sweets apparently. “I have never had a cavity, ever.” 

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