JEFF FIELDER Editor
GERING – Kyle Schroeder, a senior at Gering High School, is this week’s First State Bank Male Student of the Week. He’s involved in basketball, golf, Harmony, Friends of Rachel Club, and DECA. He’s been on the Honor Roll each quarter of high school. His parents are Chuck and Janelle Schroeder.
Q: Out of all of your activities, which one is your favorite?
SCHROEDER: “Definitely DECA because not only have I been able to go on a bunch of different, fun trips – like to Atlanta and Orlando – but it’s also taught me a lot about the business world, and I’ve developed skills that I can use not only in high school but also in my future jobs.”
Q: How have you done in DECA?
SCHROEDER: “I think I’ve done pretty well. I qualified for the international conference my first year as a junior and then this year as a senior. I also placed third in our regional conference this year.”
Q: Has being in DECA helped you decide what you want to do for a career?
SCHROEDER: “Yes, absolutely. It’s helped me realize that the business field and marketing is something that I want to go into. It’s helped me decide what I want to major in – business education.”
Q: What college do you plan to attend?
SCHROEDER: “The University of Nebraska-Lincoln.”
Q: How excited are you to attend college?
SCHROEDER: “I’m very excited. It will be a new step for me in my life. I’ll have a lot of new experiences.”
Q: Was it a tough process for you to decide which college to attend?
SCHROEDER: “Yes, it was really tough because I’ve always been a Husker at heart, but before I decided to go to Lincoln, I had taken visits to Kearney and Doane – just to get a feel for different campuses. I really wanted to find a place where I thought I could fit in the best.”
Q: What put UNL at the top of your list?
SCHROEDER: “It’s in Lincoln, and I kind of wanted to be in a bigger city compared to Gering. I felt it would give me new life experiences. Once I stepped on campus, I just knew that that’s where I wanted to spend the next four years of my life.”
Q: Is it kind of surreal to you that your high school career is about over?
SCHROEDER: “Yes. Looking back on it the last few days, it’s amazing how fast it’s gone by. I didn’t realize how fast your life goes by until you get to these moments – like your high school graduation.”
Q: Are you sad that your time at Gering High School is about over?
SCHROEDER: “I’m sad that high school is almost over, but I’m excited to move on to the next step in my life. I’ll be able to learn more and grow more as a person.”
Q: How would you describe the way your educational career went in Gering?
SCHROEDER: “It was awesome. I had a lot of great teachers who not only cared about me getting a good education but also cared about me growing as a person.”
Q: What are your top memories from your educational career in Gering?
SCHROEDER: “Definitely my DECA achievements, like qualifying for the international conferences.”
Q: What are you looking to do as career?
SCHROEDER: “Hopefully, I can become a high school business teacher and teach classes like economics, personal finance, and marketing.”
Q: Which teacher has influenced you the most?
SCHROEDER: “That would have to be my economics teacher, Mr. [Randy] Plummer. He’s made economics such a fun class to learn, and he relates it in a way to life so I’ve learned better that way. I know how to use it in my life, so that’s made economics a lot of fun.”
Q: What’s this school year been like for you with all the construction going on at the school?
SCHROEDER: “It’s been kind of a roller coaster. … It’s my senior year, so I won’t get to experience the ‘new’ school when it’s done. But we feel good knowing that it will benefit students in the future – maybe even our kids and some of our future relatives. We know it’s going to be better for our community when it’s done.”
Q: How would you describe the way things look right now at Gering High School?
SCHROEDER: “If you would look at it right now, you would say, ‘Oh, man, they’re never going to get done.’ But everything that they’ve done so far looks great. It’s going to look really great when they’re all done.”
Q: Have you lived in Gering your whole life?
SCHROEDER: “Yes, I have.”
Q: How much have you enjoyed growing up in Gering?
SCHROEDER: “It’s been awesome. It’s the ideal place for a kid to grow up. It’s not too small of a town, but it’s not too big, either, to where you can get into a lot of trouble. It’s the perfect place for kids.”
Q: What do you like best about the community of Gering?
SCHROEDER: “The people, for sure. No matter where you go, you always see some random person you’ve never seen before holding the door open for someone or asking how you’ve been doing. That’s the thing that I notice in Gering – everyone cares about one another and the community.”
Q: What do you like to do for fun outside of your school activities?
SCHROEDER: “I like to golf. On the weekends, you’ll see my dad and I up at the Gering golf course golfing all the time, and we also like to go to Oregon Trail Park and play frisbee disc golf.”
Q: How much fun is frisbee disc golf at Oregon Trail Park?
SCHROEDER: “It’s a blast. It’s kind of hard to get the hang of throwing the frisbee the right way, but once you get the hang of it, it’s just a blast.”
Q: Do you go there often?
SCHROEDER: “Yes, we do. We like to go out there on Sundays in the afternoon, just to try to get our exercise walking around the park while having some fun.”
Q: How does frisbee disc golf compare to regular golf?
SCHROEDER: “It’s similar, but I think regular golf is different because there’s a lot more mechanics involved with your golf swing compared to throwing your frisbee.”
Q: Which one is more fun – frisbee disc golf or regular golf?
SCHROEDER: “Personally, I think frisbee golf is more fun just because when I play regular golf, I get into my high school golf competitive mode, so I really worry about how certain shots are going to affect me. But in frisbee golf, I can just go out there and have fun with my friends.”
Q: Who do you feel is the kindest student at Gering High School?
SCHROEDER: “That’s a hard one to answer, but I would have to say junior Faith Kennedy. Whether she knows your name or doesn’t know your name, she’ll say, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ She’ll always ask how your day is going. That’s uplifting for myself and the whole school.”
Q: Name one person who you feel deserves kudos for something?
SCHROEDER: “That’s a tough one. It would probably have to be our janitorial staff at the high school. Whether we have late practice or early morning practice, they’re there from dusk until dawn working hard to make sure that we have a clean school.”
Q: Where’s your favorite place to eat in the Gering/Scottsbluff area?
SCHROEDER: “Definitely Rosita’s.”
Q: What do you like to order at Rosita’s?
SCHROEDER: “I normally get the combination plate because it’s got a little bit of everything.”
Q: What kind of music do you like to listen to?
SCHROEDER: “I like to listen to almost any type of music.”
Q: What’s one thing that you wish Gering/Scottsbluff had that it doesn’t currently have?
SCHROEDER: “I wish we had an activity center – a place that had mini golf or go-karts, just to give kids something else to do on the weekends.”
NOTE: Area high school students named Athlete of the Week or Student of the Week will be included in the upcoming issue of Nspire Today! magazine. To sign up for a one-year subscription (12 issues), please send $15 to Nspire Today!, P.O. Box 454, Scottsbluff, NE 60363, or call 308-220-8865. If you would like to increase your subscription to $20, Nspire Today! will donate the extra $5 this month to the Golden Halo Foundation, which helps area children with long-term disabilities. Nspire Today!, a locally owned and operated business based out of Scottsbluff, focuses on positive, feel-good and inspiring content on people in the Panhandle and eastern Wyoming.
First State Bank has been a community bank for more than 80 years with locations in Scottsbluff, Gering and Colorado Springs. First State Bank’s new mortgage center has the convenience of applying online without giving up the personalized customer service people have come to expect. Visit www.fsbcentral.com to find out why when First State Bank says, ‘We’re Big on You,’ they mean it. Find First State Bank on Facebook at firststatebank1935.
