Photography Provided
Leadership is just something Sydney Church does. She’s been involved in student leadership programs since she can remember, and she put an exclamation point on her senior year at Westfield High School by serving as student government president through what might be one of the most difficult years the school has ever seen.
It was a challenge Church didn’t see herself stepping down from.
“Everyone knows that my involvement in student government is important to me – it’s just my thing,” Church says. “I just love to help people.”
Church and her fellow students tackled the task of uniting a school that was divided in half for most of the year, and strict pandemic-related restrictions limited the events they could host.
“Because we couldn’t plan as many events as we usually do, our goal was to use the events we could plan to inspire as much spirit within the student body that we could,” Church says. “What made it especially difficult this year was having two different cohorts up until late April. It was really important to make sure that the Gold Day kids were getting to experience the same things as the Green Day kids. That’s also what made it fun, seeing how the different sides of the student body reacted to our events.”
Starting with the pandemic shutdown in March of 2020, Church and her friends jumped in organizing virtual spirit days. Homecoming 2021 looked a little different, but Church says it was her favorite project as president because it was so important to encourage unity amongst her peers.
“With COVID we still weren’t 100% sure what we were able to do, but we planned what we could,” she says.
Riverview Health Stadium was morphed into a large movie theater for a movie night during homecoming week, and pep rallies were recorded and virtually streamed to all students.
“I was so thankful for my friends that helped me execute everything,” Church says. “Cooper Tinsley organized a personal video at the end of our movie night, and I oversaw the decorations and the entire event. It was fun.”
Church will attend Minnesota State University, Mankato to study psychology and criminology in the fall. She’s excited about the opportunity to move back to where she was born for school to spread her wings, all while being grounded by nearby family.
“My older sisters live in Mankato,” Church says. “I’m a very independent person so I wanted to go somewhere away from home, but be close to family, so it’s not too drastic of a change.”
Her parents John and Shellie Church, and younger sister Jordan, live in Westfield.
“My parents have been such a big help throughout my school years,” Church says. “They’re always right there and willing to help.”
Her best friend Cooper Tinsley was voted as the student government president for the 2021-2022 school year – an announcement Church was happy to make at her last meeting as president.
“We did so much the past few years while I’ve been part of student government, even more than maybe other groups in the past, and I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish,” she says. “I’m very proud and confident in Cooper’s ability to serve the high school next year. I told him, ‘You know you are capable, so there’s nothing you can’t do.’ And I meant it.”
