Senior Spotlights (M-P) - West Lyon Comm School District

Brody Martin

By Katelyn Berentschot

Brody Martin, also well known as Bmo, enjoyed the spotlight from his parents, Durwin and Amy Martin, for a few years until his younger sister, Allie (14) was born.

Brody’s dad, Durwin, is his role model because they are constantly working together on their family farm and are always having fun together working on equipment in the shop, in the fields during harvest or planting season, or doing daily chores. He aspires to be just like him because his father is a great person to everyone around him and is always willing to help out anyone in need.

Throughout high school Brody has done well academically, earning himself an academic letter. It makes sense that he is smart enough to never earn himself a detention all throughout his thirteen years in school. He also has been actively involved in FFA and Skills USA along with golf. Brody's favorite memories came from the junior FFA trip to Alaska when Mrs. Severson, formerly known as Ms. Newhouse, fell into the cold, frigid lake while they were canoeing. Many memories were created on the junior trip to Alaska including when his friends and he got to experience the wonderful state of Alaska for seven days. Being actively involved in FFA it makes sense that Ag class is his favorite subject. He always enjoys Ag class because they always do something fun and the people in the classes have been great peers to him. Brody has received his greenhand degree as a freshman and chapter degree as a sophomore. Outside of school Brody also has been involved in youth group through his church, 4-H, and their family farm. Farming has been a huge part of Brody's life since he has been a child. In elementary school during recess his friends and he would rush out to the rocks on the playgrounds and play with their toy tractors. He enjoys wood-working inside and outside of school through SkillsUSA, his yearly 4-H projects for the fair, and shop classes at West Lyon.

Brody is unsure about his future plans but he plans to pursue a trade in either welding or obtain his CDL and truck. What Brody will miss about high school is having daily conversations with his friends and spending time with them inside and outside of school. His advice to the underclassmen is to not mess around or be annoying toward anyone. He also encourages everyone to take as many electives that you can because they can benefit you and will help in your future career or work field.

Erica Meendering

By Katelyn Berentschot

Erica Meendering was the best addition to their family even though her parents, Anne and Jeremy Meendering, already had another child at home, Garren Meendering (21). In her life, her biggest role-models have been her parents. They are the hardest workers she knows and push her to be the best person she can be.

Erica is very involved in school with marching, concert, and jazz band. She also includes herself in concert, jazz, and chamber choir. She has participated in large group and individual speech, girls basketball, fall musicals, spring plays, and has served as a girls wrestling manager. She spends a lot of time involved in the backpack program, NHS, Student Council and, previously, as an FFA member. She has excelled greatly in the Arts as she has received Iowa Jazz 1st place in 2024 and runner up in 2025. She earned an IHSMA division 1for her band solo, and an IHSMA division 1 for trombone choir and brass two years in a row. She has received Iowa Lakes CC Jazz Band Festival Outstanding Soloist, University of Iowa Honor Band for two years, NWIBA Honor Band for three years, Morningside University Honor Band, and outstanding drum major in Sioux Falls and LeMars during their competitions. In her other art, choir, she was an Iowa Vocal Jazz Champion third place in 2024, IHSMA division 1 vocal soloist, IHSMA division 1 trio, and Wayne State Honor Choir. In her time during FFA, she received gold and placed top 10 at state FFA for conduct of meetings, gold in floriculture, and was a Star Green Hand recipient. Seeing that Erica excels in all these activities, it makes sense that she would excel in her academics. She has been on the A honor roll for 3 years so far, received all her academic letters and pins, and was the Arts Student of the Month.

Outside of Erica’s academics and arts, she enjoys working at Rustic Oak Brands Coffee & Boutique and the Inwood Aquatic Center. She also involves herself with her youth group and loves volunteering at the various community events that happen in our communities. Her community involvement and amazing personality got her to earn the title of Miss Inwood in 2025.

Most of Erica’s favorite memories have come from her final years at West Lyon. To start off her senior year, Erica sat in a rolling chair and Joeli Van Beek pushed her down the new addition hallway to say hi to Ms. Haffner. A couple minutes later, Mr. Reinking walked in and said he had received an email about a “disturbance” in the hallway and asked if she knew anything about it. Erica has not forgotten about the elementary recess where she would play 4-square and always get the balls stuck on the roof, causing Mr. Snyders to get upset with her and her friends. Some memories also have come from her favorite class, Pre-Calculus. She enjoys how Mrs.Kippley teaches and her great attitude. Erica loves to obnoxiously say hi to Mrs. Kippley everyday in the hallway.

Erica plans to major in human biology at SDSU and pursue the Pre-Optometry path. She will miss seeing her friends and teachers everyday. She will miss being able to say “oh would you just look at the time. I guess we have to pack up” with Cooper Carolan and Emersyn Brands a little earlier than necessary during College Comp 2. Her last advice for the underclassmen is to, “pick up your feet in the hallway. Please :)”

Ethan Meinerts

By Nevaeh Van Dyke

Ethan Meinerts, known to many by just his last name, was born as boy and baby #2. His older brother Damion preceded him, and soon after came his sister Makenna. His parents are Cory Meinerts and Valerie Rush. His dad isn’t just a dad, he’s a role model. His dad works his tail off to provide and makes life easier for the whole family. Ethan wants to do the same with a good job to follow in his father’s footsteps.

School has always been a big hit for Ethan, especially the hands-on and new experiences. Starting all the way back in elementary school, way before he had come to West Lyon, his favorite memory was with a few friends and getting to learn new things during recess. Then, onto high school when he did join us here at WL, he loved being in so many different activities like football, basketball, and baseball. His favorite activity definitely has to be SkillsUSA, which earned him and his friend Liam Metzger second place and first place at the state convention for their robotics project. Ethan has always excelled at math, causing the subject to become his favorite. “I was the best at it,” he says when asked why he chose math specifically. Ethan’s favorite teacher doesn’t happen to be from the math department, however; it’s Ms. Haffner. His reason why was because of how fun she was when he and some other students went to the Inauguration in Washington D.C.

Outside of school, Ethan has always had a strong work ethic and that’s why he’s very good at his job. He also enjoys hunting when the season comes around and attending youth group.

After high school, Ethan has decided to join the work force to be just like his dad. As his parting advice, Ethan says, “Respect your elders and have a great work ethic.”

Carter Metzger

By Alyssa Hoogestraat

Carter Metzger was welcomed into the world by his loving parents Brian and Angie Metzger. Carter, known to many as Metz, also blessed his older siblings Claire and Cade. He eventually gained a sister-in- law, Emma. Carter’s wonderful family gave him many memories and taught him good life lessons. One member in his family became his role model: his dad. “He is very smart, knows how to work on/fix anything and always does the right thing,” Carter explained.

In school Carter was involved in football, student council, and NHS. His participation in football has led him to make some great memories. Carter was a Football State Champion in 2024 and 2025, which was his favorite high school memory, and ended his football career with receiving first team IFCA All State Football, first team All District, and Academic All State Football.

Football wasn’t the only in-school activity Carter excelled in. Carter was on the A honor roll all four years in high school and became the 2025-2026 Treasurer for NHS. When asked what his favorite subject was, Carter said Physics, because he “had a fun class and it was fun to think through stuff with classmates.” However, Carter wasn't always the best student, in fourth grade Carter's best reason for getting a detention was for “cheating” on a book report. He claimed he read the book, but unfortunately wasn’t that convincing to his teacher. Carter shaped up when he got to high school and joined student council, which he was on for three years and became the Vice President during his junior year.

When Carter isn’t being studious, you can find him attending youth group, installing gutters, sweeping, or making chicken sandwiches. He works at Northland Seamless, Richarz Repair, The Brandon Steakhouse, and Chick-Fil-A. Even though Carter has to say “my pleasure” at Chick-Fil-A, his favorite saying is “big guy” whenever he sees his friends in the hallways. Carter’s favorite school lunch is Max Sticks.

As Carter leaves West Lyon, he will miss hanging out with his buddies during school and his junior year government class. Carter’s favorite memory with a teacher was with Mr. Bouwman when all the seniors graduated and he got to watch movies for the last two weeks of school with Ben Meyer. Carter’s final advice to the underclassmen is, “have fun.” He is planning to have fun at South Dakota State University next year and pursue a degree in Engineering.

Ellie Metzger

By Alyssa Hoogestraat

On a sunny day in 2008, Ellie Metzger was welcomed into the world by her loving parents Ethan and Trixie Metzger. When Ellie was born she stole the spotlight from her older sister, Erica. Three years later Josie came into the family followed by Jaden four years after that…Ellie’s big family has given her many people to look up to. One person sticks out to Ellie as a role model: Uncle Caleb. Ellie says, “He helped me start and train my first horse and taught me so much about working hard.”

Thanks to uncle Caleb, Ellie has grown her love for horses and is in the Rock Valley Saddle Club and Tri-state O Mok See. Ellie also keeps herself busy outside of school in 4-H, Country Council, and youth group. Ellie doesn’t only strive outside of school, but excels in West Lyon activities. Throughout high school Ellie was involved in FFA, Skills USA, and NHS. Some achievements Ellie accomplished in Skills USA is 1st place at state for Masonry, which gave her a ticket to compete at nationals. Ellie also got 3rd place in t-shirt design. Ellie is an active member in FFA. Ellie competed in conduct of meetings, poultry judging, and ag issues, all receiving gold at state level. On the national level, Ellie competed in nursery operations entrepreneurship proficiency. This involvement gave Ellie her favorite memory with a teacher and Abby. On the junior Alaska trip, Ellie watched Mrs. Newhouse/Severson and Abby fall in the lake while…… Ellie didn’t just enjoy traveling with FFA but enjoyed debating in all of her Ag classes. Ellie also is a proud member of NHS, with her achievements of a letter and pins.

When Ellie isn't being studious, you can find her in the shop and ag rooms. When asked what her favorite subject in high school was, Ellie said, I enjoyed my junior year agriculture class. “We made most of the year by planning the soup supper and touring different businesses.” Ellie's favorite part of the classes were “the people in the class, which made it the most memorable”. Throughout her junior year, she and classmates got to plan their agritourism trip to Alaska. Which they then got to travel to in June.

Ellie never got in trouble at West Lyon, but she remembers Mr. Vanderfeen's 5th grade class very well. “Many things happened that year,” Ellie claimed. One thing that Ellie remembered strongly and there is still evidence of is a wax candle that broke all over the flood and wall. Ellie said, “he still has some remnants on the wall.”

If you want to be as successful as Ellie you should follow her advice, “try your best. Branch out, and try new things”. Ellie’s plans after high school are still undirected but she hopes to go into something in the agricultural industry.

Liam Metzger

By Nevaeh Van Dyke

Jordan and Masondra Metzger welcomed Liam into their growing family. Liam is the second of seven kids. He has an older brother Koen (19) and five younger siblings: Imena (15), Haislee (11), Geir (9), Naux (7), and Omri (3). Out of everyone in Liam’s big family he aspires to be like his father. He wants to have a big, healthy, and happy family while also continuing to build on the Earth just like his dad. Liam loves his whole family, and he wants to give them more to love through him and the things he wants to accomplish.

Throughout school Liam has been involved in many different things. He has been involved in Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, FFA, Football, Track, and SkillsUSA. Along with these in-school activities, Liam also participated in the 4-H club which he also enjoyed. Of all his activities, his most rewarding work was SkillsUSA. Through his involvement in SkillsUSA, Liam worked hard to earn some major accomplishments. He received both first and second place with his projects for Skills and was given the opportunity to participate at the National level with his handcrafted pens. With every activity that Liam was in, his favorite memory with these teachers or leaders was Mr. Peterson. Liam loved getting to talk with Peterson after shop nights while he worked on his personal projects.

There are a few other things which Liam enjoyed during his time as a Wildcat. His favorite subject was ancient history. Along with his favorite subject, his favorite lunch was the grilled burgers that the school would give out.

Now that he’s wrapping up all of his years of school, he is excited to be out in the real world to start his next adventure. After high school, Liam plans to attend college at Montana State University for farrier school and then after that he wants to move back home and start a business. His advice to the younger students: “Have fun. It’s ok to do dumb things a few times as long as you learn from them and don’t do dumber things.” He also advises people to have respect for one another whether or not you like that person or even agree with what they have to say.

Benjamin Meyer

By Katelyn Berentschot

Benjamin Meyer was born to his parents Wayne and Angela Meyer, a couple years after his older sister Brooklyn (21). He was the final addition to their amazing family. Throughout Ben’s life, his role model has always been his father. He is a very hard worker and is very knowledgeable. He has also taught Ben everything he knows.

Throughout his years at West Lyon he has been involved in football, basketball, track, NHS, FCA, and has participated in his church youth group outside of school. He has excelled greatly in football, earning numerous titles and awards: team captain his senior year; IFCA, DMS, and Iowa SI All-State first team Defensive End; All-District Defensive End, and District Defensive Player of the Year; and Northwest Iowa Review first team DL. In his junior year, he received first team All-District tight end as well as IFCA All-State second team defensive line. Some of his favorite memories throughout high school came from his state football and state basketball trips. His favorite memory with a teacher also happens to be on their state trip to Des Moines for state basketball when Johnson would drive them around Des Moines and his “amazing” parking job at the arena (the van was half way on the curb). He also excels in the classroom by earning a spot on the A honor roll his senior year, his academic letters and pins, and Academic All-District senior year. Being on the A honor roll and highly devoted to his academics, it makes sense that Ben has never received a detention in all his years. After high school, he plans to attend University of Sioux Falls (USF) to major in business and play football.

There is one memory from elementary that sticks out to Ben the most. In kindergarten, he stuck a rock in his ear during nap time and had to proceed to the nurse’s office to get it removed. Ben will remember West Lyon mostly for the amazing friends he has made throughout his 13 years in school. He will miss hanging out with his friends every day and having fun throughout every practice, game, class or conversation they had. He will as well miss his favorite class, Business, with Mr. Brasser because of all the valuable and useful life information he has learned. His advice to the underclassmen is to, "Don't wish your time away! Enjoy it because it goes by fast.”

Jorden Meyer

By Katelyn Berentschot

Jorden Meyer, also referred to as Jordy by his friends and family, was welcomed into this world by his parents Merlin and Marilyn Meyer on October 8, 2007. Jorden is the middle child of his six other siblings, Jessica, Erica, Javen, Nicole, Trissa, and Jada. His family also remembers his brother, Jaden, who passed before Jorden was born. He also has two brothers-in-law Alex and Nathan. His nieces and nephews include Ella and Eva of Jessica and Alex as well as Milan and Jaden of Erica and Nathan. Two other important members of Jorden’s big family are his role models: both of his grandpas. He comments that they are very hardworking in their lives, stay positive through any situation, and inspire him to be the best person he can be.

During his time growing up, Jorden has stayed a very busy person. Outside of school he is involved with his church. He has also stayed active through his school activities, which include football, basketball, and SkillsUSA. Being very involved in basketball and football, it makes sense that Jorden has many athletic achievements and honors throughout his high school athletic career. First of all, he has collected several awards in basketball. All throughout his time during basketball he has received All-State, All-Tournament, and All-Conference 1st team his junior year. Furthermore, his favorite memory from West Lyon was when he went to state basketball his junior year and played in the state championship. Jorden has also participated in football since he was a freshman. In football he has received All-State 1st team his junior year, All-District 1st team his senior year, Academic All-District senior year, All-District Special Teams MVP, and Great American Rivalry MVP his junior year against Central Lyon. His biggest accomplishment in football was being a two time state champion in 2024 and 2025.

As Jorden moves on from being a Wildcat, he has several favorite memories from his time at West Lyon that he can look back on. In his elementary years one of his favorite memories was earning enough “DeWandle bucks” in Ms. DeWandle’s classroom to bring his lunch into her classroom and watch movies. His favorite memory with a teacher is when he raced Mr. Kramer (who used Tanner Lynott’s wheelchair) on wheelchairs in P.E. When asked who won, Jorden replied, “Me, of course. Because I’ve been on a wheelchair for five weeks.” He also really enjoyed his history classes during school because he liked learning about wars and other historical events.

His favorite catch phrase that he says with his friends is “pertnear,” which means basically. Jorden obviously followed his own advice to underclassmen, which is to make all the memories that you can. He is undecided of what he wants to do after high school, but he is planning to enter the workforce.

Daniel Middlen

By Nevaeh Van Dyke

Daniel Middlen was born to awaiting parents David and Joni. He has expressed that he has two role models: his mom and dad. They both have helped Daniel choose his path and helped him grow into his own person. Among his family are Daniel’s three siblings: Jared Devine (19), Nicholas (15), and Adeline (9).

All throughout school, Daniel has remained a very active student in activities he has enjoyed. He participated in the West Lyon marching band and concert band. He’s also been in the choir and the vocal jazz choir. Daniel has also been involved in speech, the fall musicals, and the spring plays, for which he’s received his Speech and Drama letter and pins. Along with these many, many events, Daniel has received Student of the Month for Service. Outside of school, Daniel works at the Quick Stop in Larchwood, IA. With his quite busy schedule, Daniel has obviously never had time to make enough trouble to receive a detention.

Out of everything, he has certainly loved one subject out of them all: history. He’s always enjoyed learning about the past and learning what people from back then would’ve done differently in situations to people today. With history being his favorite subject, having chats with Ms. Haffner about the most random things has been a very good memory for him. Back in his elementary years, Daniel had quite the nickname from Mr. Johnson. He was called “Study Guide” because Daniel would always look at his study guides during Johnson’s social studies classes. His absolute favorite memory from West Lyon is when someone he now considers a very good friend decided to come up to him one day. After that, Daniel has quickly become more and more sociable as the time went by.

Daniel will miss many things, but the biggest thing will be talking with teachers and friends every single day, which could usually be combined with Daniel’s own maniacal laughter at the most random things. He will also miss the lunch of hamburgers and fries that the school would grill up. After high school, Daniel plans to attend Morningside University to become a fish and game warden. His advice to the underclassmen is to not be afraid of trying different activities that you might be hesitant about. He himself tried many things in his junior and senior years that made him wish he had been involved way sooner than that.

Jacob Morgan

By Alyssa Hoogestraat

A ray of sunshine was welcomed into the world: Jacob Morgan. His parents are Nicole Rozeboom and David Wallenburg. Jacob has the honor of being a middle child, his older siblings include, Hailey, Harlee, and Issabelle. His little brother Weston came later on. Jacob also is a wonderful uncle to Harlee’s daughter, Rayna.

Jacob, also known as Jake and Jub, has stayed very busy throughout high school. His in-school activities include FCCLA, Band, Spring Play, XC manager, and student council. In some of these activities, Jake shined bright and accomplished big things. His FCCLA accomplishments are being a national qualifier every year as well as a chapter officer, district officer, and state officer. Jake also got top 10 at Nationals for his STAR project. FCCLA has given Jake many great memories. When asked about his favorite memory with a teacher he said, “I have countless memories with my friends and Mrs. Rockhill as we’ve been all over the country together. But nothing will top going into the ditch with her at the culinary competition last year.” Jake will miss attending Nationals with his friends every summer, which was his favorite West Lyon memory. Jake also was a drum major for marching band during his junior year.

When he isn't busy advocating for change through FCCLA, he is whipping up coffee at Freedom Brew. Jake has been working there since his sophomore year and absolutely loves it. He explains, “I love it so much, I get to connect with so many people and the free drinks are nice too.”

With his busy schedule, Jake often needs to catch up on his sleep, which may be the reason why his only reason for getting a detention was for his surplus of absences. When he is at school, you might find him reminiscing about Mrs. Wiertzema’s Human Anatomy class since that was his favorite class. “There were so many cool experiments that I never would’ve gotten to do if I hadn’t taken anatomy like the many awesome dissections or figuring out our own blood type,” he explains.

As Jake leaves West Lyon he will miss seeing his friends all day, everyday. He will also miss his bus growing up, since it has the best memories on it. Jake says, “I am still friends with basically everyone from the bus and I will never ever forget it.” He will also miss his favorite lunch, pizza casserole. Jake leaves West Lyon with this advice for underclassmen, “Strive for good grades, if you don’t have a motive for these four years it’s going to make it a lot harder to want to come to school and be your best.” Jake plans to shine on to Drake University and major in Marketing.

Avery Moser

By Savannah Smith

On a cold winter day in 2008, Avery, known to her friends as Slab, came into the world welcomed by her very proud parents Jaci and Daniel Moser and her older brother Landon (21). Later on her brother Theo (12) was added, along with her sister-in-law Danica Moser, and her favorite siblings Mr. Kitty, Kitten, and her dog Carl. Avery’s role models are her aunts Kayla and Deena because she has looked up to them from a young age and they are so kind and inspiring.

Throughout high school Avery has been actively involved in many different activities including colorguard, choir, spring play, and speech. Outside of school Avery works hard at Juice Stop, where she has made many new work friends. Avery has received the honor of winning best color guard at Festivals of Bands all four years of high school.

One favorite story from when she was in elementary school was when Mya Hage spit a mouthful of chocolate milk at her face because Avery had made her laugh and Mya got in trouble for it. Another memory comes from when she would sit next to Leah Blauwet on the bus and they would throw food out the window until Avery got told she had to sit towards the front of the bus.

Moving into her older years, one favorite memory that sticks out to Avery is with a teacher during junior year. During her 8th hour study hall, she would sit in Ms. Lindaman's room and talk about the most random stuff. During high school Avery’s favorite subject was English because it was very easy for her (even though in 4th grade she did get a detention for forging a parent signature on her reading log). Her all time favorite memory from her time at West Lyon is her junior year, when everyone went to AirMadness for after-prom. They had only been there five minutes, and within those five minutes Kameron Linton broke his ankle, and he forced her to hold his hand while he was in pain and getting it checked out.

After high school, Avery plans to attend Northwest Iowa Community College to become a Radiologic Technologist. Her advice to underclassmen is to be yourself and don’t stress about little things. She will truly miss seeing her friends everyday and their favorite catch phrase of “I’m Tonka Jahari but I would never order a whole pizza for myself.”

Edwin Perez

By Nevaeh Van Dyke

October was an exciting month for Elena Sanchez and Rito Perez, as Edwin Perez was born. Now, Edwin was the first child for his parents; later on came Kevin who is now 14, Perla who is 12, and Yezabel who is 3. Edwin sees a role-model in himself. He says this because he is transparent; he loves that about himself and is willing to continue to be that way for the rest of his life.

Edwin was very happy with his years at West Lyon, having joined the Cross Country team to continue his love of running. He has also earned academic achievements, including reading rewards. He also has a great time being in culinary classes with Mrs. Rockhill. He says this because every assignment is so hands on and easy to apply. With all this time at school, Edwin hasn’t ever had time to receive a detention for any reason. Edwin also loves that he’s been praised for the work he’s done with how much effort he tries to put into his work. Edwin also brings that effort into his job at Oak Street Station in Inwood, making sure he does what he needs to accomplish every time he has a shift, which is very appreciated among his peers.

Edwin has a lot to remember about his life in school, his earliest being outside during recess. He loved playing king of the hill on the snowpiles, declaring himself king and winning. After that, he also loved getting to eat the food he made in Rockhill’s classes as it always felt like a reward and a chance to improve his skills further next time. Edwin also remembers the snow days we’ve had over the years, getting to relax from the day to day for a little while.

Edwin will miss many things about school, like the warm soup lunches that somehow hit the spot every time. He’s also going to take the time and knowledge he’s spent on learning to continue moving forward in life as he goes off to a University of his choosing after he graduates. He would also like to bestow some advice on the underclassmen: keep your focus on school, lift heavy weights, and keep drinking milk for that calcium.