Abigail LaNoue and Tate Radcliffe were chosen as student members of the Rotary Club for December. They represented the Chandler High School senior class at the service club’s weekly meetings.
Abigail is the daughter of Debbie LaNoue and has one older brother.
She has prepared for life after high school by applying herself to her studies achieving a 4.0 grade point average. In addition to her regular classes, she has earned Certification as a Nursing Assistant through Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee, Okla. She has taken concurrent classes at Rose State College in Midwest City, Okla.
Abigail plans to attend Oklahoma State University in Stillwater to pursue a career in the medical field. Volunteer work at SSM Health Group and at the McLoud Nursing Center has contributed to that goal.
She has served the community through her church, the food bank in Oklahoma City, and the Salvation Army Clothing Drive. She was in Rotary Youth Leadership Awards camp and Positive Peers.
Abigail says she learned while serving as a children’s counselor at church camp that putting service above self can be a simple act of kindness.
She went to the camp with the intention of participating on the worship team but found that she was expected to be a lot more involved personally with the children than she had expected. She admits that she is not a person who was comfortable with giving advice or even just being there for another person in need of emotional support.
She found she could not have imagined what some of the kids at the camp were going through in their lives. One girl in particular put up a front that she was only at the camp because she had to be and Abigail felt other children were more in need of her attention.
Until one night, the girl ended up in her arms in need of pure unconditional love and encouragement. Although Abigail never saw herself as an “advice giver,” she realized that just being there for the girl and letting her know that someone cared about her feelings was very much needed.
Abigail says she learned that being selfless in even the smallest ways could benefit someone in ways you never thought.
Tate Radcliffe, the son of Matthew Radcliffe and Amy Radcliffe, is the oldest of three children.
He prepares for life after high school by learning how to manage his time and money. He wants to make himself as efficient as possible.
A musically talented student, Tate has been both the bass section leader in choir and the drum line captain in the CHS band.
It was during his time serving as a summer camp counselor for the Lincoln County On Stage children’s musical “Peter Pan Jr.,” that Tate felt the reward of putting service before self. Although preferring to be an actor, he had aged out of it the season before so he volunteered to assist the director in any way he could.
The camp started at 9 a.m. and rather than sleeping in on his summer break, he was there early every day to help out. He wanted to use his time for the betterment of the community and assisting the aspiring actors.
He used his previous experience with both props and acting techniques to help the students put on a good show. Whether working backstage or one on one with the kids during camp days, Tate learned that giving his all to help others is a rewarding experience.
Tate plans to further his education at Wichita State University in with a major in Aerospace Engineering.