Person of the Year – Isaiah Holgerson

Joyful, bubbly and encouraging, Nixa High School’s student body president Isaiah Holgerson has been involved in a multitude of clubs and extracurricular activities throughout high school. Holgerson has been involved in speech and debate, FBLA, DECA, National Honors Society, Math Honors Society, Spanish Honors Society, Student Council, Cabinet, student body president, tennis and Interact Club.

   “Going into high school, … part of me knew that I would be very involved,” Holgerson said. “But at the same time, I had no idea what high school would be like. I knew that I wanted to try a lot of things, but I didn’t expect nearly as many things to stick.”

   In everything he is involved in, Holgerson said one of the most important things to him is recognizing the joy in every day.

   “If you’ve met me, you know I’m a really bubbly person and I’m a very smiley person,” Holgerson said. “Sometimes I think that can come off a little surface level. For me, that’s rooted really deep in caring about people and the value of people and the value of every moment. I love smiling, I love having a good time and not just ignoring things, but dealing with issues and what’s at hand [while] smiling my way through it.”

   On a day-to-day basis, Holgerson said he is inspired by people’s passion.

   “Seeing people care about what they do and care about what they care about is impactful like very few other things,” Holgerson said. “When you take the time to realize the value of a person and the value of what they value, I believe that your life truly starts to change.”
Holgerson said being student body president has provided him with relationships and connections he would not have otherwise gained.

   “There are no words for how incredible of an experience it has been to lead Cabinet this year,” Holgerson said. “It has been … a powerful journey and an incredible moment for me to analyze where I’m at as a leader.”

   With the 2021-2022 school year coming to an end, Holgerson said after he graduates, he wants to be remembered as the student body president who was unafraid to be different.

   “I want to be remembered as somebody who was unafraid to defy the norm of hating school and hating life and hating people, and instead loving school, loving life and loving people,” Holgerson said.

   Although school may bring about challenges for some, Holgerson offers some advice.

   “If I had a couple messages for the student body, the first would be that there is always hope,” Holgerson said. “You never know when things are going to turn around for the better and you never know when hope is just around the corner. Just recognize that every moment is a moment in a larger story. … Keep a perspective that your life isn’t all algebra problems, that your life isn’t all Spanish vocab and … you’ve got a whole future ahead of you.”

Artist of the year – Jayden Coalson

Senior and Drum Major Jayden Coalson is passionate about band. Not only does she conduct the Nixa High School Crimson Corps, Coalson has been involved in volleyball,
National Honors Society, Music Honors Society, Math Honors Society and pep band.
Coalson said she was able to connect with everyone in the band.
“Part of being a drum major and especially being a senior, it’s like you are … supposed to know everything,” Coalson said. “Being able to meet everybody and know everybody and know … the different ways to guide people was probably my biggest success and lesson.”
NHS Band Director Craig Finger said Coalson is an enthusiastic student who has been a great leader in the band program.
“She is a strong role model, displaying a strong work ethic that has enhanced her work as an artist,” Finger said. “Jayden has grown steadily in her craft and I can always rely on her being prepared for our rehearsals.

Athlete of the Year – Faith Chepkondol

Sophomore Faith Chepkondol made a name for herself through track and field. She made it to State for the 200-meter-dash and with her 4×100-meter relay team. Chepkondol has
been in track and field even before the start of her high school career.
“I became involved with track and field when I was in fifth grade because my parents suggested I try it since cross country wasn’t for me,” Chepkondol said. “I am inspired by many amazing professional track and field athletes like Allyson Felix.”
Track and field head coach Lance Brumley said Chepkondol is an amazing athlete and teammate.
“She is so excited for her team when they do well and she is the first person to congratulate her teammates and celebrate their success,” Brumley said “Faith is a tireless worker as well. More than once, I have seen her staying late at practice or coming to the track on weekends and working on the different aspects of her events.

Teacher of the Year – Joshua Posegate

Head of the social studies department at NHS and girls and boys assistant soccer coach, Joshua Posegate said he knew he wanted to be a teacher ever since high school.
“I wrote an English paper in high school about being a teacher and a coach before I even decided what I was going to do so it was in the back of my mind for a while,” Posegate said. “I started as a journalism major at Mizzou and changed that … to education because I like the subject matter and I liked the idea of potentially coaching as well.”
Posegate said his favorite things about being a teacher are the relationships formed with his students.
“Whether it’s a class they might struggle in a bunch of ways on content or a team that might struggle on the field or whatever it may be, you can still kind of fall back on ‘hey am

I being a good person, am I relating to these kids,’” Posegate said.

The selection process –

Wingspan editorial board selected an athlete and artist from each grade, as well as a core teacher. Then, those selections were posted on social media pages for Nixa High School students to vote on.