Chandler High School seniors Jillian Anderson and Victorian Barton were named student members of the Rotary Club for December 2020.
Jillian Anderson is the daughter of Glenn and Melissa Anderson. She has one older sibling.
With a plan to pursue a career in marine biology or conservation ecology, she has prepared for life after high school by attending multiple Women in Science conferences as well as a pre-engineering program for two years.
She took the American College Testing exam twice to improve her score and has applied for and been accepted into a pre-college marine biology program in Florida.
Her future plans are to attend Rose State College in Midwest City, Okla., or the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.
Jillian has shown leadership capabilities serving as section leader in Music Makers, working as a CHS librarian aide and helping out with Vacation Bible School for Central Church of Christ in Chandler and Broken Arrow Church of Christ.
Her volunteer work has included Meals on Wheels, assisting in the set up for Run for Love and Eighth Grade Expo, Hope Harbor Christmas shopping and assembling Thanksgiving baskets.
Jillian learned that opportunities to put service before self are available wherever you live. Prior to the pandemic restrictions, she gave of her time to join others in visiting retired church members who were no longer able to attend church services.
She found that being with them and singing the hymns they loved not only brought joy to the senior citizens but also brought her joy and made her look forward to the next visit. Although maybe not an act of service that changed the community, she saw that it personally helped a few individuals and realized that is what counts.
Victoria Barton, the daughter of Randall and Kimberly Barton, has an older sister and brother.
She has a goal of working in bio-medical engineering. To prepare for that, she has attended the pre-engineering academy at Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee, Okla., for three years and has taken concurrent classes through Seminole State College in Seminole, Okla., during her senior year. She has been involved in many different programs to learn how to work with all types of people.
Victoria was selected to serve on the BancFirst Student Board of Directors, which has helped her to learn about money management and finances. She plans to further her education at the University of Oklahoma in Norman or the Colorado College of Mines in Golden, Colo.
She demonstrated competence as a leader as captain of the CHS pom squad and of the FIRST team 2341, a robotics team out of Gordon Cooper Technology Center. She is a student leader in her church youth group and involved in mission work.
She has volunteered as a teacher’s assistant for Vacation Bible School for five years, worked at God and People’s Food Pantry and helped with the Veteran’s Day assembly hosted by the CHS student council.
Victoria made the decision to put service above self when she chose to help out at a children’s camp in Kansas rather than taking a road trip with her family. In addition to cabin checks, game rotations and leading a small group, she was asked to be available if any child needed personal counseling.
As she got to know the campers, she became close to one little girl in particular. She was able to mentor her and shared in her joy when the child came to her after an evening service and made “one of the biggest decisions of her life.” Victoria was glad she had made the choice to put service above self.