DANVILLE – If you’re in this eastern Knox County village this Saturday night you might hear Marley Boone singing and playing her guitar at the Bottleneck bar and grille. She’ll be performing with older sister Quincy as The Boone Girls.
In a few years you may find Marley in a very different venue. She plans to complete a nursing degree that will allow her to care for babies and their parents.
Marley, who has served as president of her sophomore, junior and senior classes, was Danville High School’s nominee for the 2025 Franklin B. Walter Scholastic Award sponsored by the Knox Educational Service Center. Active in 4-H and volleyball, she ranks third academically in her graduating class of 48.
“I want to become a pediatric nurse or a nurse who works in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit),” Marley said.
Her career goal was shaped in large part by two factors: her older sister’s work at Nationwide Children's Hospital and the care she helped to give her younger sister Willow.
“I had the opportunity to help take care of my little sister as a baby. I was 10 when she was born,” Marley said. “I learned all about taking care of a baby by playing with her, holding her, feeding her and, my least favorite, changing her. I am so grateful for my little sister being born because she is one of the reasons I chose to work with babies.”
Marley plans to enroll in the nursing program at Central Ohio Technical College. She has taken College Credit Plus classes to complete most of the required prerequisite courses. After COTC she will decide on a four-year nursing program.
Marley’s focus is on families who face difficult situations.
“It’s not all about what ages of babies I want to work with; it is also the conditions they may have and the hard times their families may be going through,” she said. “I want to try to help them as much as I can.”
Guidance counselor Vicky Dillon has no doubt that Marley, who also serves as president of National Honor Society, will have a highly successful nursing career.
“I have known Marley since she was in sixth grade. She is very talented, thoughtful and so caring about others. She is the first to step up,” Dillon said. “The students in our school look up to her as a role model.”
While pursuing her nursing career Marley plans to stay connected with her family, riding horses and playing the guitar.
“One major goal of mine,” she said, “is to own a small farm with horses. I would love to start a family and share what I know about the farm with them. I will work as a nurse wherever I end up.”
For now, Marley will continue to perform with Quincy on weekends in Newark, Loudonville and other area communities. Before long they may have to bill themselves as The Boone Girls Trio. Young Willow is studying the violin.