Claremore Public Schools

➡Next Steps: University of Oklahoma

📚Field of Studies: Elementary Education

🦓Zebra Since: Kindergarten

🔴What advice would you give your freshman self? Get involved! I didn't start being involved at CHS until the end of my sophomore year, and I wish I started on the first day of school here. Getting involved and participating in school activities made coming to school so much better. There was always something to look forward to getting me through the week. Participating in school events isn't embarrassing; it's fun!

🔴What has this journey taught you about yourself? It has taught me that if you really want to be successful in what you are doing, you have to put in effort. Nothing is handed to you; you earn it.

🔴What were the hardest challenges you had to overcome to achieve this honor? For me the hardest challenge was taking the ACT, I am not a great test taker, so I really had to study and prepare myself for weeks in advance.

🔴What does this accomplishment mean to you? It means that all of my late nights and early mornings spent studying or showing up to activities have really paid off. Everything I have done in my high school career has helped me achieve this accomplishment, and I am so grateful that I am able to say I achieved this.

🔴What are you most proud of in your high school career? I am most proud of the fact that I was able to achieve many different things during my high school career. Each year, I have been heavily involved in different things, and due to this, I have been able to experience so many new and different experiences.

🔴Looking back on your school experience at CPS, what does being a Zebra mean to you? Being a Zebra could mean so many different things to many people. For more, being a Zebra means being active and an upstanding community member. Being a part of the Zebra community, there are so many opportunities handed to us to go out and volunteer or be active within the school. To me being a Zebra means being a good and strong role model to those outside of this district.

🔴What elementary staff member impacted your life most, and how? Mrs. Devers (was Miss. Hartsock) had the biggest impact in elementary school. She was my second-grade teacher at Roosa Elementary and is still, to this day, one of my favorite teachers. She made going to school something to look forward to every day.

🔴What junior high staff member impacted your life most, and how? Mrs. Hindenburg, my sixth-grade math teacher made the biggest impact on me in Junior High. I absolutely hated math, but with Mrs. Hindenburg, it wasn't that bad. She never failed to brighten my day and always made sure to tell me not to give up, even if it was hard.

🔴What high school staff member impacted your life most, and how? I would say there are two teachers in High School I will never forget: Mr. Cummings and Mrs. Luginbill. Mr. Cummings was my junior year pre-apush teacher, and he made history actually fun to learn about! He is a teacher who really does care about his students and makes it known, even after having not been in his class in over a year, he continues to make a positive impact on my life. The other teacher in high school who impacted me was Mrs. Luginbill. She was my junior year AP Lang teacher and was for sure the best English teacher I have ever had. She always tried to be involved in her students' lives beyond the classroom. These two teachers made high school a great experience for me!

🔴What activities have you been involved in? AP/Pre-AP Programs, Zebra Track, Zebra Softball, Class Officer, Concurrent courses, FUZE, National Honor Society, Red Army, Spirit Squad, SAGA, Student Council Young Dems, ZUAC, and the Career Development Program

🔴What is the one thing you will absolutely take with you to college? One thing I will be taking with me is time management. Learning how to balance academics with extracurriculars is tough but doable. While the structure in college will be different, learning how and what to prioritize has been very helpful to me and will continue to be helpful in college.

Awards / Honors / Scholarships

I am a recipient of the Claremore Alumni Association Scholarship, the University of Oklahoma Academic Excellence Scholarship, and the University of Oklahoma President's Leadership Class Scholarship.

CHS Student of the Month for April 2023, Oklahoma Honors Society 4.0 GPA award, selected to be on Homecoming court, selected as CHS student section leader, 2022 State Track meet qualifier in 300 hurdles.

Meredith’s signing off with the reminder that “It’s a great day to be a Zebra”!