Seniors Kelly Phipps and Savannah Franz have spent the past three months writing a thirty page paper in their spare time. The paper is something they have chosen to do for DECA, a business club at school. While most high school kids may choose to watch TV or hang out with their friends in their spare time, some Free State students are choosing to go after awards and spend some extra time to advance themselves and have a positive affect of their community.

”DECA is a business group that goes to different competitions with many different categories,” said senior Kelly Phipps, “Savannah and I did a research event this year.”

“We teamed up with a local business (KU Credit Union), and we wrote a 30 page paper and we went to state competition we had to present it in front of judges,” Phipps said.

Their hard work ended up paying off, too. The two girls ended up taking first in their event at state. and they are just two of the many students stepping outside the classroom to get hands on experience in competitions and outside work.

Kylie Puckett also participates in competitions outside of school. As a member of FFA (Future Farmers of America) she participates in a variety of contests when she travels with FFA around the state. Puckett would like to go into veterinary medicine and said FFA has helped give her the skills necessary to achieve those goals.

FFA is not just for future farmers however. Puckett also competes in leadership categories such as the “Job Interview” section.

“We go to competitions we learn about agriculture and how to be a leader in today’s society,” Puckett said.

Learning outside the classroom isn’t just for school clubs like DECA and FFA. The Advanced Placement Chemistry recently traveled to Langston Hughes Elementary School to help with the schools science day.

“We helped out their science discovery day and we showed them a little about chemistry and the more fun side of chemistry,” senior Jacob Craft said.

They showed students different chemistry experiments and tried to show the elementary students the more exciting side of chemistry, and to encourage the younger kids to take an interest in science.

“Seeing them light up and get all excited taught us that maybe we should appreciate school more,” Craft said.

Neva Swartzendruber has also been competing at the national level. She entered a contest for extra credit in AP United States History about her favorite civic value and when she became a finalist, she also won a trip to Washington D.C. to find out where she placed. She wrote about the civic value of ambition.

It seems as if there is a lot of ambition going around at Free State. Make sure to check with teachers, and club leaders if you are more interested in getting involved.