Kaylee Choate, Samuel Gardner and Alexis Juel, all seniors at Chandler High School, have been named the October Lions of the Month by the Lions Club.
Kaylee Choate has won a Certificate of Excellence for a 4.0 GPA from 2021 to 2022.
She is also a member of the National Technical Honor Society, Oklahoma State Honor Society and National Honor Society.
She placed fifth at HOSA State for Nursing Assisting with Gordan Cooper Technology Center, was on the FCA Student Board for Student Council, and the FCCLA vice president of public relations.
Choate has been involved in many activities. She attended Girls State in May 2024 and attends the Health Science Program at Gordan Cooper Technology Center. Choate has been a member of Positive Peers; PSI; Fellowship of Christian Athletes; Peer Mentors; Youth Action for Health Leadership; Business Professionals of America, where she qualified for state in Intermediate Word Processing; Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, where she attended the District and State FCCLA Leadership Rallies; and FFA.
Choate also runs track and cross-country. She was state alternate for the 4x400 relay in 2022 and the 4x800 relay in 2023. For cross country, she received the Spirit of the Lion Award in 10th grade, the Cross Country Athlete Award, and was a state qualifier in 2022.
Her community involvement includes volunteering at Vacation Bible School at First Baptist Church, God and People’s Food Pantry and Chandler Recyclables. With Gordan Cooper, Choate made and delivered Christmas cards to the Shawnee Care Center.
Choate has worked at Dr. K. Dean Evans Jr.’s office, job-shadowed McBride athletic trainer Brian Choate, and at the Shawnee Care Center for clinicals.
Samuel Gardner is the son of Aaron and Carey Gardner and has a 4.0 GPA. He is ranked first in the Class of 2025 and has an ACT score of 32. He has also taken advanced classes such as Honors English I and II, AP English III and IV, Algebra III and concurrent college Algebra.
Gardner is a member of the Oklahoma High School Honor Society and has received Academic Letters for three years. He has also been on the A Honor Roll three years in a row and won Academic Excellence Awards for Geography, Algebra II, Band, Biology I, Honors English II, Fundamentals of Technology, Forensics and AP English.
He was also nominated for Oklahoma High School Academic All-State. In 2024, he made the Cimarron Valley Honor Band and has helped the Pride of Chandler win sweepstakes at OSSAA Regionals in 2023 and 2024.
Gardner has been in band for four years and on the Academic Team for three years. With the band, he has been percussion section leader for two years. On the Academic Team, he was Team B co-captain the 2022-23 school year and Team A co-captain during the 2023-24 school year.
Gardner has also been involved with the community.
He has been a sound system volunteer at the FUMC VBS from 2021 to 2024, made Christmas cards for nursing home residents, worked with Meals on Wheels in 2023, and did Christmas shopping with the Academic Team.
He has worked with COTC during the summers of 2023 and 2024, and was a private percussionist tutor in the fall of 2023.
After graduation, Gardner plans to go to Oklahoma State University and recieve a Bachelor’s degree in Music. In the long term, he hopes to be a session musician or for his band, Room Temperature, to be popular enough that it is self-sustainable.
Alexis Juel is the daughter of Jared Juel and Lori Gordon. She has a GPA of 3.36 and is ranked 42 in the Class of 2025. She has taken advanced classes such as AP English for three years.
She has been a section leader in the Chandler High School band for two years and a member for four. Juel also made the Cimmaron Valley Honor Band in 2023 and attended BPA Nationals in 2022.
Juel’s activities include Business Professionals of America for three years, choir for two years and SkillsUSA for two years. She also attends Gordon Cooper Technology Center, where she is enrolled in General Aviation Maintenance.
Juel has also been involved in the community. She helped with a food drive through BPA in 2022, fundraised for BPA through a firework stand in 2024 and helped run a toy drive for Christmas, also with BPA, in 2023.
Juel plans to complete the General Aviation course at Gordan Cooper during high school, then continue into adult classes for Airframe and Powerplant to receive her A&P license. After graduation, she plans to move to Colorado and work for an aviation maintenance company.