Emily O’Kief Selected November Youth Rotarian of the Month
Launch the media gallery 1 playerEmily O’Kief, an Seward High Senior, was selected the November Youth Rotarian of the Month and recognized and honored at the recent Seward Rotary Club noon luncheon meeting on Wednesday, November 13th, 2019 at the Jones Bank Auditorium. Emily is the daughter of Stacey and John O’Kief. She was introduced by Rotarian Phil Bangert of the Seward Rotary Youth Rotarian Committee and she was presented a Rotary Club banner and information on Rotary and Rotary International.
While Emily is very involved with a host of extracurricular activities at Seward High, she is also a lead scholar at Seward High! She is always on the SHS Academic Honor Roll and a longtime leader in the SHS National Honor Society with a current 4.1 GPA.
She is the official student representative on the Seward School Board of Education, selected by the faculty and administration. She was also selected an Outdoor Education Counselor for many years. She is one of the lead Student Ambassadors for Seward High and has participated in the SHS Quiz Bowl program.
Music has a priority in Emily’s life and she is a leader and a longtime-four year member of the SHS Swing Choir, she is a member of the SHS Select Choir, she has been involved with the musical her entire high school career. Emily was a member and leader of the SHS Marching Bluejay Band-serving as the band’s Drum Major her senior year and the SHS Wind Ensemble for four years. She has participated in a host of special choirs and honor band programs over the years as well as the SHS Pep Band!
Emily was a member of the SHS Track Team and Cross Country and lettered in both activities. She also was a member of the SHS Soccer team.
She has been involved as a leader in the SHS One Act program all four years and a leader with the SHS Speech team, participating in Drama Team and Duet competitions-named a District Champion in Speech and a State Qualifier the last two years! Emily participated in the VFW Voice of Democracy Speech Contest. She has been involved over the years in a host of activities at the Nebraska State Fair in the Education Division.
Emily is also very involved in the SHS FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) program. She is a member of the SHS Key Club and involved in many of their service projects, such as the Multi-Cultural Day.
Emily is a member of the Bluejay Leadership Team (Student Government) and has been selected to be a member all four years of her high school career and currently serves as the Leadership Team’s Student Body President. She was selected one of the two RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) last year and represented the Seward Rotary and Seward High at the state RYLA week-end leadership seminar.
Emily has been employed as a child care provider, worked at Mustard’s Last Stand – a concession stand near Malcolm, and currently is employed at the Rivoli Theater in Seward at the concession stand and where needed.
In the area of “Service Above Self,” Emily has been a volunteer Seward Memorial Library Assistant and enjoys working with youth at the annual youth education outdoor program and the various youth activities hosted by the SHS Show Choir. She has been a longtime volunteer as well through her service club project with Key Club and FBLA at Seward High.
Emily is a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church and a voice of the youth in their congregation.
While she is still very much undecided on her college choice, she is “looking” at Boston University, with a major in Molecular Biology, but that is not a finalized, definite choice as of today-she is still deciding and looking at other options.
Emily was presented with a Book Scholarship from the Seward Rotary Club and will again be honored and thanked in May at the SHS Senior Honors Night at the SHS Theater. At that time, the Seward Rotary Club will announce the Seward Youth Rotarian of the Year and presented that student with the Youth Rotarian of the Year Scholarship. One Youth Rotarian is selected every month by the Seward Rotary Club to an SHS Senior, with the application available in the SHS Counselor’s office.