BVW TARS Officers

President - Ben Roller

Ben Roller is a junior at Blue Valley West.  He was elected Vice President after having served as TLC Coordinator and was then elected to the presidency in 2006.  He has been involved in the club for all four years at his highschool. He stays very active in school with a 4.0+ weighted GPA and takes many classes that he enjoys such as Debate.  He has gone to the State Debate tournament for three years in a row now. He has lettered three times hence taking part in debate.  Ben has taken a tough schedule throughout the year with all honors classes and two Advanced Placement (AP) class.  He also keeps himself busy through many extracurricular activities including being the President of the Latin Club, an officer of the political science club, a delegate to Boy's State, the ambassador for Transfer students, ambassador for the superitendent's student board, a competing member of FBLA and a delegate to the National TARS Leadership Conference twice.  At TLC in 2007, Ben Roller was bestowed the honor of the Lee Atwater award in Washington D.C.  Out of school he participates in many hobbies including Golf, hanging out with friends, watching movies, and watching KU basketball games in his spare time.

Ben states his main goal for the club is to "Increase involvement in the club by implementing more social settings. This will make it so more people will get involved in politics and enjoy the things that I have enjoyed so much in this club, which will ensure a continuation of the legacy brought by the founders of the club."

Vice President - New Officer Coming Soon!!!

Secretary - Beth Caldwell

Beth, a junior at West, was elected Secretary of the BVW TARS. Previously, she was Volunteer Coordinator for the club. Beth is actively involved with the BVW swim team, qualifying for state last year. She is also a scholar athlete. Beth's interests include swim team, traveling, photography, youth group, running, and reading.

Treasurer - Ryan Kriss

Ryan Kriss is a junior at Blue Valley West,  He is an excellent student
who has a very impressive GPA of higher than 4.0. Presently he has a
rigorous schedule which includes all honors classes, and college courses. He has lettered in Forensics, and Debate twice, and has also competed in Debate at the state level. Besides Teenage Republicans, Ryan is also interested in Debate, and History Club. Outside of school interests include watching movies, hangingout with friends, listening to music, and reading. Ryan looks future to becoming a more active member in TARS and furthering his understanding of politics.

When asked about TARS, this is what he had to say: "The Teenage Republicans Club here at Blue Valley West, serves as an excellent
opportunity for myself, as well as others, to gain a significant
understanding of the political process. I know that for myself, it has
presented diverse opinions for me to compare to my own. I look to the future with hope that the Blue Valley West Teenage Republicans will continue it's run as a club of excellence, and I look forward to opportunities not only to become more active in the club, but also to gain a better understanding in politics. Even if I chose not to pursue a career in government, it is important for all people to understand current events and to be active citizens of this great nation."

Executive Director - Kelsey Jones

 

A senior at BVW, Kelsey Jones was appointed Executive Director for the second time after serving as the BVW TARS Membership Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator and Vice-Chair of Education/Voter Registration Coordinator. Kelsey is involved in many activities including Swing Club, LEO Club, and she is an Executive Mentor in the Jaguar Mentorship program. She takes honors classes and maintains a high GPA and is in Latin NHS. Kelsey is also involved in AP courses, chorale, and works at Stein Mart.

 

Kelsey states, "as executive director, I will oversee club relations and ensure that goals are established in the areas of fundraising, membership, and community involvement. I plan to work with all officers and committees to outline a plan to achieve the goals that they have set."

 

Events Coordinator - Bailey Birk

 

Bailey Birk was named Events Coordinator this year. She previously served as Membership Coordinator. She is a sophomore at West and was the only Freshman on the BVW TARS leadershipteam. Bailey is involved with soccer at West (and has been playing soccer for 10 years.) She participates in Track and has earned her black belt in Taekwondo. She maintains a 4.0 GPA and has 150 hours of community service hours so far this year.

 

Bailey's interests include reading, photograhy, hanging out with friends, drawing, and shopping. She also states she is an avid Bush loyalist and enjoys following current events. Bailey is also a native Alabaman and proud of her roots there.

 

Membership Coordinator- Will Roller 

 

Will Roller is a sophomore at BVW and has been involved in the club for two years.  His first year of high school he was involved in activities including Debate and Orchestra while keeping a very strong GPA.  Will has taken his interest in orchestra to a very active level.  He is a member of the Kansas City Symphony for the last two years and is the principal chair of the school concert orchestra.  His hobbies include watching sports, sailing, golf, watching movies, and just hanging out with friends.  He plans to do everything for the club that he can throughout his entire high school career.  He was appointed to membership Coordinator for the club due to his dedication throughout the year.

 

            When asked about his plans for the club he states, “I would like to increase the membership of the club by asking what the students would like to do, so that we can be more knowledgeable about politics in general.”

 

Press Secretary - Andrew Berggren

 

Andrew Berggren is a junior at Blue Valley West.  He has been involved in Teenage Republicans for the past year and is currently serving as historian/webmaster.  Andrew maintains a 4.0+ Grade Point Average in school and takes Honors classes.  Activities in school include Future Business Leaders of America and TARs.  On his spare time, he enjoys hanging out with friends, playing video games, and web design.  He is actively involved in church and maintains the content of their youth group's website.  Andrew has also developed the websites for two commercial companies.

 

Andrew states his goal for the club is to "Continue the same pattern of excellence set by the founders through maintaining a website that is up to date, user-friendly, and above comparison."

 

Volunteer Coordinator- Mikayla Dreyer

 

 

Mikayla Dreyer is the Volunteer Coordinator for our club. Mikayla takes Honors and AP classes and is very involved in school activities such as Student Council, FCA, National Art Honors Society, LEO Club, and Relay for Life. Outside of school, she works part-time with special needs children, volunteers with Special Olympics, and participates in numerous other community service projects. She also is very involved in the children’s and youth ministries at her church. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her friends, running, and keeping up with current events.

As Volunteer Coordinator, Mikayla’s goal is to organize volunteer activities for the club. As a representative of our school and Young Republicans throughout the United States, it is important to show our desire to make an impact in our society through community service projects.

Education Coordinator - Marcus Clem

Marcus Clem is a Junior at Blue Valley West. This is his second year in the club. He was appointed Education Coordinator in 2006. Marcus takes AP courses and has a GPA of 3.5. He is also a reporter for the school newspaper and is an eager newcomer to debate.  Marcus’ interests include reading, drawing, playing computer games and basketball. He enjoys writing and reading editorials, particularly concerning current events.

Marcus’ goals are to increase the membership of the club, and to educate the students of Blue Valley West about the Republican Party.  

TLC Coordinator - Aaron Caldwell

   Aaron Caldwell has been with the club now for two years, and after much dedication to the club was elected the TLC Coordinator.  When he's not found spreading the "republican word", he may be seen on the varsity cross country team at BVW.  Continuing with the same theme of running, he also enjoys taking part in Track during the spring months.  Even with this busy extracurricular activity schedule, he mantains great grades in school.  He enjoys taking many higher level classes with an assortment of honors classes.

    He sets his goal as the TLC Coordinator, simply to just have a "go-getter" attitude with the posistion.  He will need this when he takes on the responsibility of designing the powerpoint for the TLC presentation and the club's scrapbook.