On Oct. 15, senior Kennedy Beverly was selected to receive the St. Louis County Outstanding Student Leader Award.
The St. Louis County Outstanding Student Leader Award was founded in 1976 by the St. Louis County Youth Division. This award recognizes one senior from each St. Louis County high school annually. The students in question are scholars who give back to their school and community in various ways.
Beverly is extremely involved in Ritenour itself, as well as the community. She is currently a National Honor Society member and varsity cheerleader. Beverly also participates in Leadership, Game Changers, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
“I didn’t know I was getting the award, it was just an email saying congratulations, and then I asked my teacher about it, and she told me that Dr. Green and a whole bunch of staff members picked me,” Beverly said. “I didn’t think that many people were watching, but when I started talking to Dr. Green about it, he told me he was very proud of me and that I was an asset to Ritenour. I was very grateful.”
Leadership co-sponsor Keaton Strong has been impressed with Beverly’s positivity and maturity. He interacted with Beverly when she was in Leadership class, as well as in a Student as Mentor capacity. He even says that those skills have an impact on him some days.
“(Beverly) is a positive influence around other students, which makes my job so much easier when I’m dealing with other students. To have somebody that’s positive around me, they get a chance to see what positivity in the building looks like, and that way, her maturity level and how she deals with things is a good guide for me as a mentor,” Strong said. “She motivates me to motivate others, if that makes sense.
In addition to her leadership roles in the building, she is also a four-year cheerleader. Just like her work in the Leadership class, Beverly takes on a leadership role on the cheer team.
“Kennedy has been a major help with understanding cheers, and then putting in the effort and commitment to help out her teammates, know them well, and starting off the season strong,” Burkes said. “I would say one of the best parts of having Kennedy is that she always comes in with a positive attitude. No matter what’s going on throughout her day or life, she usually comes in knowing that she wants to have fun and cheer and hit her stunts and try to advance as much as possible during the time that she’s here.”
Outside of Ritenour, Beverly is also involved in a variety of extracurricular activities, such as Girls Inc., the University of Missouri-St. Louis Bridge Program, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of St. Louis. She believes that her involvement in these activities could lead to more opportunities for students in the Ritenour community.
“I feel like there are not many black girls doing stuff in these areas, so I like to bring my diversity into those areas, and then eventually more people who look like me, in addition to those who don’t look like me, will want to join,” Beverly said.
Beverly wants to continue to be involved in the future. She wants to influence others who look like her and leave an impact on every group that she is a part of.
“I’m enrolled at SIUE and I’m hoping to be in the NAACP program there, so hopefully I’ll be doing the same things that I’ve been doing here already,” Beverly said. I would like to see myself improve every day, and I want to be the good for somebody else. I want to be the good for a community and represent every time I leave a space, even at school, church, cheer, or orchestra. I want to make it better than it was before.”