Chandler High School seniors Shayla Peery and Brayden Redford were named student members of the Rotary Club for April 2022.
Shayla, the daughter of Fred Peery and Kristi Peery, has one younger sibling.
Her future plans include majoring in vocal performance in college preferably College of the Ozarks or Belmont University. She has prepared for that by taking the ACT and submitting college applications. She has a job so she can save money toward college expenses and has maintained a 4.0 grade point average while taking concurrent college classes.
Shayla participated in the CHS Gifted and Talented Program, was selected to serve on the BancFirst Student Board of Directors and served as the senior class secretary.
She has also been very involved in extracurricular activities at CHS including four years of choir. She ran cross-country and track and took part in power lifting. She was a manager for football for three years and was a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
It was a singing opportunity that taught Shayla about service above self. She learned that bringing others joy matters more than whether or not she is going to have a good time and that, in turn, their joy causes her to have a good time.
She was wondering about going with a group to sing at the veterans’ hospital and if it was going to be worth her time. It brought to mind a previous visit there and how the veterans’ faces lit up with joy that people were coming to sing Christmas carols just for them. The memory reminded her that bringing joy to the veterans was more important than whether or not she was going to have a good time.
She determined that anytime she can make others happy, she will so that their life may be blessed with acts of kindness.
Brayden is the son of Shawney Redford. He has two younger siblings and one older.
He has plans to attend the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond or Rose State College in Midwest City, Okla. He has prepared for life after high school by signing up for Oklahoma’s Promise and other scholarships. He served as the senior class president.
Brayden’s service to others include volunteering at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Oklahoma City and helping clean up his community by participation in the “Sweep the Streets” event on Manvel Avenue in Chandler.
Brayden says that “Service Above Self” is a motto he tries to live by every day. He loves to help people and shows that in many ways.
He was chosen as a “coach in training” for sharing his football knowledge and helping the fellow linemen on his team with blocking techniques and figuring out plays.
At school, he assists teachers with such things as cleaning up and helps other students with computer problems or their homework. As an aide, he helps the CHS secretary and principal any way he can.
Brayden helps his mom in her job as the East Side Elementary School cafeteria manager. He helps at home by doing chores such as cleaning and doing laundry and helping his little brother with homework.
Brayden believes that helping others benefits everyone, consumes less time and allows people to learn new skills.