Successful Siblings

WAELDER — Hard work and dedication go hand in hand with success.

Those attributes also go hand in hand with Kimberley and Caleb Ibarra. The brother-sister tandem works hard in the classroom, on the basketball/volleyball court, and on the job.

“I want to be successful in life and help other people,” Kimberley said. “I do what I have to do in order to succeed.”

The Ibarra siblings both attend Waelder High School where Kimberley is a senior and Caleb a freshman. Their oldest sister, Anna Velasquez, graduated from Waelder in 2007, and is currently enrolled at Texas State University in San Marcos.

Both Kimberley and Caleb embrace their birthrights in the family as well. Kimberley is the middle child, while Caleb is the youngest.

“Being the middle child allowed me to get away with more stuff,” Kimberley said. “Anna always had higher expectations than me and Caleb since she is the oldest, and Caleb always gets to do the outdoor work since he’s the only boy in the family. Our parents are always on us about making good grades, but they were a lot harder on Anna than us.”

Although being the only son in the family sometimes means more heavy-duty work than the daughters, Caleb still enjoys his role in the family. For being the only son usually means less work in the kitchen.

“My sisters cook for me,” Caleb said. “It would be nice to have a little brother, but I’m used to being the only boy.”

Caleb said his favorite meal cooked by his sisters is breakfast — particularly eggs, pancakes and bacon. He also believes his sisters have molded him into being a good citizen.

“My sisters taught me how to treat women right and to respect them,” Caleb said.

Just as Caleb has learned from his older siblings, so has Kimberley. She learned some valuable lessons from her older sister.

“Anna taught me how to deal with boys, and to work hard in school,” Kimberley said. “I learned a lot about life from her.”

Kimberley was a member of the Waelder volleyball team, and also might participate in track and field. When she’s not at school, Kimberley can be seen either working at the Shell Gas Station in Waelder or McDonald’s in Flatonia.

Kimberley considered going to ITT after high school, but now wants to go to a trade school or paramedic school. She recently became a member of the Waelder Volunteer Fire Department.

“I love helping people so I think joining the (Waelder VFD) will give me the perfect opportunity to do that,” she said. “As far as school is concerned, I want to go somewhere where I can get finished quickly and enter my career field.”

While Kimberley is thinking about life after high school, Caleb is enjoying his first year of high school. He really loves being a member of the Waelder boys basketball team.

“Playing varsity basketball as a freshman is something very special because not too many freshmen get to do that,” Caleb said. “It’s even more special to play for Coach (Jarvin) Hall because he makes you earn your playing time.”

A year ago, Caleb played on the Waelder Junior High boys team. He already notices a difference between junior high and high school basketball.

“In high school, the game moves a lot faster,” Caleb said. “You have to earn your minutes and points. High school basketball is the real deal.”

While Caleb loves playing basketball, Kimberley does not. She played one year in junior high, but that was enough for her.

“I don’t like it when people are in my space or in my face,” Kimberley said.

Kimberley was the manager for the boys basketball team before taking a second job. She still attends Waelder basketball games when she gets the chance.

In addition to playing basketball, Caleb also participated in cross country in the fall. He won the junior varsity district championship at the District 32-A meet in October.

As much as he loves basketball, there is one sport Caleb would like to play — football. Waelder does not have a football program, however.

“I like watching football on TV and playing in the backyard,” he said. “If we had a football team, I would play in a heartbeat.”

But Caleb is happy playing basketball, and might even be involved in the game after high school and college. He wants to be a basketball coach.

Caleb also is a member of the A/B honor roll at Waelder. His favorite subjects are reading and science.

“I like reading because it’s easy, and I like science because it makes sense,” he said.

A year ago, Waelder reached the Class A Division II state basketball tournament. While the Wildcats did not win the state championship, Caleb saw first hand what he had to do to make an impact.

“I saw what I had to do to earn playing time,” he said. “You can’t take things game by game, you have to take them quarter by quarter.”

That quarter-by-quarter mindset isn’t the only thing instilled in Caleb. He also has the desire to win.

“I work hard and I play to win,” he said. “If you don’t know what you’re playing for, it’s not worth playing.”

Waelder goes into tonight’s District 30-A-DII contest at Moulton with an overall record of 11-13 and a 2-0 district mark. The Wildcats may not have the most impressive record, but 21 of their 22 nondistrict opponents were schools from larger classifications.

“We saw everything from playing against bigger teams,” Caleb said. “We saw all types of zones and even some man-to-man presses. But we know how to break presses easier now, and playing the non-district schedule we played helped us prepare for that.”

Having been to the state tournament, Caleb said Waelder’s goal isn’t to just return to state. He said the Wildcats’ goal is to win it all.

“We want to win the state championship,” he said. “That’s what we play for.”

Of course, Caleb knows that in order to get there, he and his teammates must do a few things.

“We have to have heart and dedication, and play defense,” he said.

Then hard work and dedication will lead to more success.