Feb 21, 2008

Ava High School Principal David Rickner introduced this month's Students of the Month at the luncheon meeting of the Ava Area Chamber of Commerce Tuesday. The meeting was postponed from a week ago due to weather. This month's Students of the Month are Taylee Kjar and Brian Heier. Following are biographies of each of the students as read by Mr. Rickner. Taylee Kjar is the daughter of Roger and Lori Kjar of Ava. She is the oldest of five children and moved to Ava at the beginning of her freshman year. This was a new state, city and school for Taylee. She tried very hard to get involved at the high school by joining various clubs and was able to make many friends as she participated in these clubs. Some of the clubs she has been involved in are: Anchor Club, National Honor Society, FCCLA, and LINK Crew. She is also a member of the high school cheerleading squad for the past two years. This year Taylee was voted by the student body to be the senior class vice president. She has enjoyed this leadership position as she has been able to help make some important decisions for the senior class and has also helped with many of the 2008 Project Graduation events. Academics are a top priority to Taylee. She has proved this by being an honor student throughout all of her school years. Taylee has continued to maintain an "A" average these last four years here in Ava. She hopes to receive academic and leadership scholarships to further her education in the areas of government, law, or psychology. Taylee's plans for her next year are to further her education this fall by attending the College of the Ozarks. Brian Heier is the son of Quinn and Venae Heier. He was born in Cox Hospital in Springfield in 1990. He has attended Ava Public Schools from kindergarten to high school. During high school, he has been a member of Trend for two years, FFA for three years, FBLA for one year, and has run track for two years and cross country for one year. He also has taught tae kwon do on the Ava square for the past two years. His plans for the future include attending Longview Community College for two years, before transferring to UMKC for four years, and moving on to medical school.