For many high school seniors, life can be a semi-chaotic jumble of homework, social activities, extracurriculars, and planning for the future.
Loveland High School senior Kayla Chapman has juggled all of those things and more, maintaining a straight-A grade point average, playing alto saxophone in the award-winning LHS band, serving on multiple boards and commissions for the City of Loveland, and working several days a week.
“I can do anything with support that I put my mind to,” Kayla says. “No hardship or challenge will be too big to stand in my way. No matter how different your situation is from other people, or how hard, that shouldn’t stop you from accomplishing your dreams and goals.”
Kayla has attended Thompson School District schools since fourth grade, when her family moved to Colorado from California. She says she has always felt driven to do her best, and that some of that motivation has come from growing up in a single-parent household with just her older brother and her mom.
“My mom has been a single mom since I was in sixth grade,” Kayla says. “She has had to make sacrifices in her own life, but she has always been there for me. She’s been to every single competition. She’s never complained, never outwardly seemed to us like she can’t do it. She made sure there was nothing different, that I was still able to do everything I wanted to do.”
For Kayla, that meant being heavily involved in the LHS band, where she has held several leadership positions, including principal of the wind symphony for three years, lead saxophone in the jazz band, and horn sergeant for two years, among many other honors.
“It’s super rewarding,” Kayla says. “All of my friends are in band. I came into high school with one friend, and then I left my freshman year with a whole group of friends. My whole support system, I met because of joining band.”
Kayla Chapman Channels Her Passion Into Civic Service
Throughout high school, when she wasn’t busy making music, Kayla’s other passion was serving her community through local government. Kayla has dedicated countless hours to the City of Loveland, serving on Loveland’s Youth Advisory Commission since her freshman year of high school, as well as being part of the Transportation Advisory Board and leading the Substance Abuse Subcommittee for YAC.
“I really love being involved in local government. I think it’s super important, knowing what you’re voting on,” Kayla says. “It’s important to be involved because you only get what you put into it. Local government is where all the action happens. Most everything that happens at a local level affects everybody.”
Kayla will attend the University of South Florida in Tampa this fall. She plans to major in civil engineering and hopes to have a career in public works, possibly in transportation.
“I like being in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics],” Kayla says. “Not a lot of girls go into that, and I think it’s important to be the representation you want to see. Civil engineering is a perfect mix of the government side and engineering.”
Portrait of a Graduate
Citizen
Demonstrates civic responsibility
