Albany Schaffer left Hays three years ago to pursue her dream of playing collegiate volleyball at an NCAA Division I school. In the fourth grade, Schaffer started playing volleyball after watching her neighbor play. Schaffer played all positions in recreational ball but started playing libero when she got older. “I decided I wanted to play volleyball in college my freshman year,” Schaffer...

Trenton Potter graduated three years ago. While in high school, Potter participated in numerous activities he feels contributed to where he is today. "While at Hays High, I was involved in Spring Play, Webteam, Track, Scholars' Bowl and Science Olympiad," Potter said. "I also tried out other activities like football, swimming, band and chamber singers, but I didn't stick with them." Potter said...

Graduate Nicole Feyerherm left Hays High in 2014 but never expected to move to Germany after studying abroad at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Essen, Germany. “Several things about Germany drew me to it. Like many people in Hays, I have ancestors from there, and even met some distant relatives of mine on my first study abroad,” Feyerherm said. Feyerherm also said the culture of Germany,...

Graduate Chelsea Powell finished high school in 2006, and during her time in high school, she participated in Spirit Club, Student Council, yearbook and journalism. "I was more actively involved in the newspaper and was editor-in-chief my senior year," Powell said. "I enjoyed getting to interview my fellow students and finding interesting stories for the paper.  I also really liked covering sports." The...

Since graduating in 2012, Hays High graduate Mark Mathis II has received his bachelor degree and is working on his masters in civil engineering at Kansas State University.  While in high school, Mathis participated in football, track, National Honors Society, and Hays High Industrial Tech Association (HHITA), which encouraged Mathis to pursue a career in engineering.  During the last year of his und...

During her high school years, 2013 graduate Delphine Burns was an editor of “The Guidon,” a Chamber Singer and president of the Gay-Straight Alliance. Burns often made an effort to engage herself in political and social activism as a teenager—a theme that has remained present throughout her life. Burns often faced backlash and opposition for her strong stances on political and social causes...

Jaici Simon never expected to return to her former school district as an instructor after her graduation from Hays High in 2012. But after changing her field of study and deciding to pursue a profession in education shortly into her college career, the alumni will ultimately do just that. During her high school years, Simon was involved with competitive dance, National Honor Society and a local...

Christopher Rooney, a 2013 graduate of Hays High, participated in Scholar's Bowl, Orchestra, Full Chord Press, Science Olympiad, Math Relays, National Honors Society, Musical, Spring Play and a book club while in high school. Rooney is currently a graduate student studying astronomy at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. "I am a teaching assistant for some college-level Astronomy classes, which has...

When 2013 graduate Chance Pitcock first approached 2012 graduate Eric Stumon about designing a tattoo in memory of his uncle who committed suicide, neither one of them initially expected the design would lead them to start their own nonprofit suicide awareness and prevention organization. From the original hoodies donned by the founders to the multitude of choices now found on their online shop, Scott Alan Project has grown imme...

Sarah Rooney was very focused on her grades and doing well in her classes all throughout high school. "I was really hard on myself to live up to the academic expectations people had," Rooney said. Rooney was a very well rounded student. She was involved in soccer, Scholar's Bowl, musical, spring play, choir, orchestra, jazz band and National Honors Society over the four year course. With that...

Since age 15, 2016 Hays High graduate Lacey Elkins has aspired to be in a combat role in the United States Marine Corps. Now, she’s training for it. Recently, Elkins was interviewed by PBS Newshour for a story over women in combat roles. “The Marine Corps offered me a challenge, and having the opportunity to be a part of that generation for women was something that I wanted to do,” Elkins...

From a Hays High Indian to a Tennesse State University Tiger, HHS graduate Lane Clark has kept his loyalty with football through the years. Clark said he started playing football when he was in third grade. Since then, he has played practically every position on the field but any sort of lineman. Starting in third grade and going through fourth, Clark played for many different rec, traveling, an...

The arts have always held a special place in 2015 Hays High graduate Max Befort's heart. Throughout his high school career, Befort participated in four years of musical productions, Chamber Singers, two years of spring play, three years of district and state solos, four years of district KMEA choir, three years of state KMEA choir, four years of orchestra and two years of Spring Play. His greatest...

Several Hays High graduates have gone off to pursue various interesting career ventures, and alumni Charlie Riedel is among them. Since 2000, Riedel has been employed out of Kansas City as photographer for the Associated Press. Riedel said he first took up an interest in photography as a sophomore in high school, utilizing an unused darkroom in his house to develop his pictures. “I then...

In high school, Ashley Nease focused primarily on her grades and music. Nease joined Chamber Singers during her sophomore year and maintained a 4.o GPA. Before graduating, Nease found another passion for business due to her involvement in DECA. "My greatest achievement in high school was the scholarships I earned to take with me to the next phase for my path of success," Nease said. Nease graduated from Fort Hays State University in May 2016 with her undergr...