Stacy is excited to attend CSU.
Where are they going: Stacy Avitia
Welcome to The Mav’s Senior Tradition where we highlight our current seniors and discuss where they are headed
Stacy Avitia (‘23) will be majoring in Journalism & Media Communication at Colorado State University. She hopes to be a journalism news anchor or editor in the future.
During her fourth year at CSU Stacy wants to study abroad in Greece.
She plans to be involved with The Rocky Mountain Collegian, the student newspaper for CSU, as well as their broadcast station. As of now, she doesn’t know if she’ll be writing or doing broadcast journalism, but she is excited to see where she’ll end up.
In Journalism at Mead, Stacy attended “Journalism Day” at CSU and saw the broadcast set up, learned more about their journalism programs, and toured different news rooms.
“I fell in love with the campus… I’ve been set on it ever since,” she said.
Stacy’s senior year has been enjoyable and memorable, and she’s incredibly grateful for all the new people she’s met throughout the last four years. Senior year has been filled with the “next steps in life.”
If she could tell her freshman year self anything, she would tell her to “not give up…Just show up and try,” she said.
She continued, explaining that she feels she missed out on a lot of opportunities because she “was scared to join things or to be wrong.”
“Take every chance that you get,” Stacy advised.
Since freshman year, she has learned to better prioritize the things she loves and focus on herself.
She’ll miss Journalism with adviser Ms. Jamie Hedlun, and she’ll miss playing for the tennis team.
One class she enjoyed was AP Language & Composition with Ms. Shannon Martenson. Stacy shared that Ms. Martenson was always helpful and supportive.
AP Literature with Ms. Kelly Baxter has also been one of her favorite classes. Ms. Baxter “pushes her students”, and Stacy feels she’s grown and improved a lot throughout the class.
For the Class of 2024, Stacy suggests these incoming seniors start applying for all the scholarships they can right from the start.
She also added that high school is a time to “support your peers”. Go to plays, concerts, sports games.
Stacy has made an impact on MHS, and we know she will continue to do great things.
Where are they going?: Gavin LeCerf
Welcome to The Mav’s Senior Tradition where we highlight our current seniors and discuss where they are headed
Gavin LeCerf (‘23), known to have a charismatic and humorous personality, is attending Colorado State University in Fort Collins after high school. Gavin is hoping to pursue a career in political science. “I’ve always loved politics since I was like a little kid,” said Gavin.
He continued, saying he “remember[s] back during the 2012 election” being super involved and interested even as a kid.
After he graduates from college, Gavin hopes to be a congressional aide. Then, he wants to work his way up to being a senator or representative in the House.
Gavin has enjoyed his time at Mead because of the people he’s met and the friends he’s made. “There are a lot of great guys” that Gavin became friends with over the years.
Making connections with people at Mead contributed to teaching Gavin that “in the world of [the] internet, we’re all still human.” Gavin said, “I go on Reddit [and] Twitter and I see people screaming at each other over little opinions that will probably never come to fruition.”
High School also helped him talk to people easier and learn that “we’re all human either way.”
Gavin is a manager for Mead’s track team, and he is also a part of Film Club. He enjoys the community in Film Club as well. “[A]fter the movie, we usually talk about it, and everyone usually understands each other and can see eye to eye on stuff,” he said.
If he could tell his younger self anything, it would be to “collect coins” earlier. During the pandemic, Gavin found his passion for coin collecting and learning about the history of coins. He also enjoys collecting military gear and building models out of legos.
Gavin advises future seniors to “do what you want to do… If you want to be a biologist, then be a biologist. Don’t think about the money. Just think about the work that you’re doing for society.”
We’re excited to see what the future holds for Gavin and have enjoyed attending high school with him.
Skylar Whalen is a senior. She is this year's editor-in-chief. Skylar enjoys painting, singing, and playing softball. She is a huge animal lover and works with dogs outside of school. Skylar plays competitive softball and hopes to play in college. She is excited to help other writers succeed and grow. Skylar can’t wait to work with new people and produce engaging stories for the community around her. She also enjoys having the excuse to write about herself in third person and make her seem interesting.