Senior Spotlights (Q-U) - West Lyon Comm School District

Peter Rens

By Nevaeh Van Dyke

Peter Rens, third oldest child to Jerry and Lori Rens, was greeted by his older siblings Grace (28) and Henry (24), who were more than happy to have a little brother to play with. Peter then got to welcome his own younger sibling, Arie (15), to the family a few years later. Peter loves his family, extended and all, including Matt, who is his sister’s husband. If you asked who Peter’s role model is, he would say his dad. Peter has always looked up to how hard his dad works and how easily he gets along with anyone he meets.

School has always come easy to Peter, as he’s been on the A-Honor Roll all four years of high school. Peter also threw himself into activities to fill the time he had free. He has been involved in basketball, cross country, golf, and all three WL bands (marching, concert, and jazz)! Adding on to his pile of involvement is also FFA, in which he has earned a green hand and a Chapter Degree, and SkillsUSA where he competes in different fields. Outside of school, he also participates in 4-H and attends youth groups at his church. You’d think with all this, he’s gotten a detention for something right? Well, you’d be wrong! Peter’s much too good for a red mark on his record.

Peter has a lot of good memories, most of them regarding the agriculture or shop classes and teachers he’s been with. He’s loved Ag as a whole because of the fun projects he’s gotten to be a part of over the years, his favorite being the butchering of a hog. Speaking of Ag teachers though, the best memory was when Ms. Newhouse, now Mrs. Severson, had fallen into a freezing lake in Alaska after trying to kayak during their Agritourism trip. Finally, his favorite West Lyon memory that will never be topped is during state SkillsUSA down in Des Moines. It was after supper and the group of 15 guys had nothing to do, so they got the idea to ride E-bikes around downtown to kill some time. It was a blast, riding the sidewalks everywhere and nowhere with friends is an experience Peter will never forget.

“Live in the moment with your friends, don’t focus on the future so much” is a piece of advice Peter gives to others when he’s trying to make them see what to truly appreciate. Peter will miss his friends and the conversations he’d have with them over a good burger and the smiley fries at lunch.

After school is over, Peter plans on using his CDL license to truck market hogs and maybe even farm on the side.

Emersyn Rentschler

By Alyssa Hoogestraat

On a nice day in 2007, Emersyn was welcomed into the world by her loving parents, Thomas and Janelle Rentschler. Emersyn, also known as Emy, is a great sister to her 3 siblings, Mitchell, Taylor, and Ryker. Emersyn is also lucky to have her sister-in-law, Mia, nephew, Rhodes, and brother-in-law, Gavin, join her family as well. When asked about her favorite role model. Emerysn said her sister, Taylor. “She has always been there for me, even when she lives 12 hours away. She always works hard and encourages me to do the same.”

Emersyn has stayed very busy during high school. Her in-school activities include FCCLA, NHS, Student Council, track, cross country, wrestling and football cheer, speech, and band. Emersyn went above and beyond in all these activities. In FCCLA Emersyn became a State Officer and National Officer Candidate. Emersyn also placed Top 10 for her STAR Event Project and competed in the Knowledge Bowl. Her years in FCCLA led her to her favorite memory with a teacher: traveling across the country with Mrs. Rockhill. One trip was actually her favorite high school memory, which Emersyn said was, “traveling to Washington DC with all my best friends,” since they got to spend all week together. “It was so much fun to be with everyone I cared about in an environment different from school,” she added.

Emerysn also has maintained a 4.0 all four years of high school. Her favorite subject is math “because it always has a right or wrong answer.” With her leadership and academic skills she earned the honor to be President for NHS and for Student Council. (Even though Emersyn didn’t remember these accomplishments on her questionnaire, she still is an incredible leader). In cross country, she received the “Wildcat” award for her school spirit. In track she qualified for State track her sophomore and junior year. Emersyn's school spirit is shown in many ways, whether it's through an organization, sports or in cheerleading as she is also a proud cheer captain for wrestling and football cheer.

Emersyn also loves to cook at her job, The Green Rail restaurant in Hills, Minnesota. When she doesn't feel like cooking, you can find her reminiscing over the cereal she used to eat out of Maya Garcia’s coat pocket during recess with Meg Lapka. The girls did not only eat cereal, but also would play a serious game of four-square. Emersyn doesn't only eat cereal, but she munches on max stix during lunch, which is her favorite school lunch.

As Emersyn leaves West Lyon, she will miss seeing her friends everyday and calling people “mama,” which is her favorite saying. Emersyn plans to attend Drake University to major in Biology to start a pre-med track. Emersyn’s last words to underclassmen: “Try in your classes and put yourself out there. You never know what you might be interested in unless you give it a shot.”

Ashley Roemen

By Nevaeh Van Dyke

Ashley Roemen, also known as “Ash,” was born as daughter #3 to Jennifer and Ryan Roemen. She has two older sisters: Claire who is 23, and Tyra who is 19. Her younger brother, John, came later and is now 14. Ashley loves her mother, claiming her as her role-model. “Do your best and let God handle the rest,” is a motto both Ashley and her mom live by. Her mom always thinks of others before herself, and it inspires Ashley to follow in those footsteps.

During school, Ashley had many many things to be proud of. Number one being how she's never received a detention because she’s such a good student and person. Along with being so good in class, she's received a silver medal during the ABC awards every year and an academic letter. Ashley is also very musically inclined, being in choir for six years and recently joining the chamber choir. She also was accepted into the WL jazz choir this year. Then in November, she was recognized as student of the month for Arts. Following that, forget just having a green thumb, Ashley's got the whole green hand from FFA! Outside of school, Ashley stays involved with people. She loves working with kids at Wiggles and Giggles in Larchwood and then attending youth group at church with her peers. She loves people and also loves being able to talk and help others in any way she can.

Ashley has many things to remember about West Lyon, though when asked to pinpoint one elementary memory, she said it was in Mr. Johnson's class. She was sitting in homeroom and had forgotten her book in her locker. When she asked Johnson to grab it, he had begun “yelling” because she was supposed to have it in class. Sorry, Mr. Johnson! That memory must’ve really stuck with Ashley because now her favorite subject is American History. Haffner is very funny and Ashley has always loved the stories Haffner tells. Another storyteller was Mrs. Schillerstrom, who apparently would drink two energy drinks before school every single day. Ashley’s Composition II class thought this was hilarious and began laughing. She also loves getting to play pickleball in PE while hanging out with friends. Another instance of hanging out with people is the jazz choir competitions, she loves traveling with the group and singing for judges.

Ashley has so much to miss about high school too, like the familiarity of the schedule. She also loves getting to hang out with friends all the time. While hanging out with her friends, she loves talking over her favorite lunch, chicken bacon ranch pasta. “Be kind to everyone around you” is some advice she has to underclassmen. She also wants everyone to give others a smile, because it might just brighten their day. Ashley will continue to brighten everyone’s day at Southeast Tech, which is where she plans on pursuing a higher education.

Evan Rose

By Eliana Kooi

Born in 2007, Evan decided to complete the Rose family, joining his parents Jesse and Dana as well as his older sister Amber. Though it might seem like Evan and Amber are quite peaceful now, this dynamic sibling duo was not always this way. In their younger years they enjoyed causing a lot of mischief together as they grew up. For example, Evan told us that, even though he never got a detention, he did get a stern talking to by Mr. Snyder once. This was because he and his sister decided to hide under the table in the post office, which caused them to miss the bus. Now that Evan is a senior and Amber is a freshmen in college, they try not to miss the bus anymore.

While that elementary memory was not Evan’s best moment, he did appreciate his second grade teacher, Mrs. Martinson. When Evan was in Mrs. Martinson’s class he would miss a lot of school due to many stomach aches and would throw up from time to time due to having GERD. However she made his time a lot better by letting him bring his pillow in class and lay down when he wasn’t feeling well. When Evan was in third grade, Mrs. Martinson even checked in with him at lunch to see how his year was going.

As Evan grew up and entered high school, he began to take on new challenges, like fire, as he is a volunteer firefighter for the Alvord Fire Department. But that isn’t the only light Evan fights with. He has also involved himself as the lights and sound technician for the high school musicals and plays. This was a rewarding experience for Evan, and some advice he gives to underclassmen is, “Get involved in drama! If you don’t feel like you can act or sing, join crew! You will regret not joining sooner.” Another thing he recommends to the younger generation is, “Talk to people who you don’t usually talk to and take yourself out of your comfort zone.” He added that an aspect of high school he will miss most is being able to talk to many groups of people who are interested in different things.

When asked about his favorite subject throughout high school, Evan answered, “Math.” He says that this is his favorite because he enjoys problem solving. With math being one of his interests, it's not surprising that he is considering getting a degree in accounting/finance after he graduates high school. Although he is undecided on what college he is going to, Evan said he would most likely go to either South Dakota State University (SDSU) in Brookings, SD, or Morningside University in Sioux City, IA.

Cooper Schoening

By Katelyn Berentschot

Cooper Schoening, also known as big daw, was welcomed into this world to his loving parents Kerri and Jake Schoening. They later welcomed his younger sister Avery to finish their family. When asked who his role-model is, he says that it is his father, Jake. He has taught him everything he knows about baseball and any sport he competes in. He also has taught him valuable life lessons to get him to be the person he is today.

Throughout his high school career, he has been involved in football, track, and baseball. Baseball and football is where Cooper shines the most for his athletic career. During his football career he received first team All-District Linebacker and first team All-State Utility his senior year of high school. He also was a two time state champion his junior and senior year. On the baseball side, he has been a state participant two of his four years which is his favorite all-time West Lyon memory. He also has received first team All-Conference and first team All-District his junior year. As he excels in his athletics in high school, it makes sense that he plans to attend Northwestern for Nursing and to continue his football and baseball career.

Cooper's years were filled with many funny stories and memories. In his elementary years, he loved inside recess but even more liked throwing blocks at Emery. This caused him to get his first detention. Later on in middle school, he and his friends were joking around and he said an inappropriate joke. A teacher nearby caught them and gave him a detention even though he and his friends. His rebellious side ended in middle school as he has never received a detention since. (Luckily, his first hour teachers were gracious and did not give him a detention even though he arrived late many times).

Cooper’s favorite subject throughout high school has always been History because he likes learning about wars and previous events in history. He also enjoys the teacher's knowledge when in the class. Even though History was his favorite subject, his favorite memory is when a guest speaker came into Mr. Whalen's class to talk. Cooper was the only one in class who would say anything to the guest speaker, and he had several spirited discussions with her which he found entertaining.

He has always been close with his friends and he will miss the culture they have created, time spent with them, and their never ending catchphrase “big daw.” His advice to the underclassman is “enjoy the time you have with your friends, it goes by quick.”

Savannah Smith

By Katelyn Berentschot

Perhaps you think of December afternoons as cold and dark, but this wasn’t the case in 2007. A ray of sunshine appeared in the lives of Justin and Tonya Smith on this day when their oldest and favorite daughter Savannah, Vanny or Vanna known to most, was born. Vanny enjoyed the center stage for two and a half years until her sister Jorja (15) came into their family’s lives. Even though Vanny only has one sibling, her favorite member of the family is her cat, Klaus. Savannah's father Justin has been her role model since day one. He is always her biggest supporter in whatever activity she has been involved in at the time. He has made her into the person she is today, and she is constantly looking up to him. Throughout their years he has helped her become a more confident and stronger person and athlete and see the positive side in everything she does.

Throughout Vanny’s high school years she has participated in volleyball and track. Vanny’s volleyball achievements include being a 2x letter winner. Throughout her four years of varsity track she has achieved many accomplishments. Her accomplishments include being a 2x state qualifier her freshman and junior years and being a 4x letter winner. Her freshman year she competed in the 4x100, 4x200, Sprint Med all of which placed 18th at state. Along with her freshman achievements are 4x200 district champion and Howard Wood Relay qualifier in the 4x100 and 4x200. Throughout her sophomore year, her team qualified for Howard Wood Relays again for the 4x100 and 4x200. Her junior year she placed first in the Sprint Med at districts and went back to state placing 11th, along with qualifying for Howard Wood again in the 4x100. Savannah has pushed herself to her limits multiple times by crushing her PRs. She has had a stand out career as a track and field athlete but she isn’t done yet. Savannah is committed to Northwestern to continue her track and field career and get a degree in exercise science to become a PTA or chiropractor assistant. Outside of school Savannah has been actively involved in FCA and youth group, and has worked at Doon Steakhouse for 5 years.

Vanny has always been a mischievous student. One time in 8th grade, Emery Koch, Claire VandenBosch, Alyssa Hoogestraat, and Savannah did not want to go to band so they got a pass from Mr. McKenney, hid in the locker room for 20 minutes, then changed the time off the pass and went to band. In elementary school Emery and Savannah created their own group of friends: “Nanas.” They had certain stipulations (like kicking a ball at a certain angle) and if a person did not pass every task, they were not allowed to join. Eventually they got brought up to Mrs. Twedt and had multiple conversations with her. Savannah has learned her lesson with the help of Mrs. Twedt and no longer has people complete physical tasks before she agrees to be their friend.

Vanny will miss seeing and making memories with her friends and being constantly involved in activities. One phrase she will miss saying with her friends is “I AM PIBBLE.” Her advice to the underclassman is to not take things for granted because it goes by fast.

Cody Snyders

By Nevaeh Van Dyke

Cody Snyders was born as the oldest child of his parents, Ryan and Laura Snyders. A few years later, his little sister, Hannah, came into the picture. Yes, Cody has a fun family, but he’d have to say his dog, Jazzy, is a top tier family member in his eyes. Cody is a hard worker just like his dad, who he looks up to for more than just that. His dad never rests and is always trying to find a way to improve his family's livelihood. He is also very down-to-earth, which Cody loves because it helps him understand and accept certain problems for what they are without overcomplication.

Cody was a very busy person both in and outside of school, too busy to get a detention. He was given many awards for his academics, including academic All-State, the A honor roll, and being a part of the National Honors Society (NHS). Along with his academics, he had joined and played in every band under the sun here at West Lyon. Marching band (which he joined back in 8th grade!), concert band, and the WL jazz band. He loves being a part of the music in school, especially when he worked so hard to get the awards he got with the bands. While in jazz band, he was able to receive two jazz state champions and a runner up, along with attending the All-State jazz festival. Besides the mountain of band things Cody has done, he’s also a member of the golf team and football team, in which he and his team took home two state titles.

Onto the after hours of school, Cody continues his love of golf elsewhere in working at the Larchwood golf course and being part of the men’s league. He also loves racing and competing in pool tournaments and hunting when the season comes around.

Cody has a lot of favorite memories, but when whittled down to just a few these were his top ones. Starting back in elementary, we all know how much Cody loves football: he even treated the reading counts tests as his own personal Super Bowl. With that said, Cody would love playing 4-square and tag at recess, as well as getting to do robotics or marble races being a blast from the second the activity started. The love of being so hands-on with activities translated well into Cody’s love of science. He loves fascinating concepts and creativity with projects and labs. After that, he and his friends’ energy with fun never seemed to settle. Like the time during an overnight stay those guys had created noise complaints from playing just dance too late into the night, or a 1 in the morning pillow fight turning into Cody being launched into a hotel AC unit.

“I’ll miss just the little moments where everyone seemed to click and get along,” he says, seeing that everyone’s grown up together all this time. He loves having that special ability to talk with anyone in his grade and get along over a bowl of chicken alfredo or a good hamburger at lunch felt so different to the rest of life. “It’s okay to not be the best at everything in high school,” is his biggest piece of advice to everyone. He adds: participate as much as you can. It’s okay to try and fail because you’ll learn so much about yourself. It's really better than not trying at all.

After high school, Cody plans to attend NCC with a major in Psychology and playing golf. He also aspires to travel later in life and see the sights.

Jullian Snyders

By Savannah Smith

On a warm summer day, Jullian Snyders was born. Jullian was welcomed by his overjoyed parents Jason and Tammie Snyders and older brother Aiden (now 20). Later on the Snyders decided it was a good idea to complete their family by adding Miles (now 11), making Jullian the middle child. Jullian’s role models are his parents “They help me be the best person I can be and they set a great example for who I want to be when I'm older.”

Throughout high school Jullian excelled in academics, earning all the academic awards like being on the A honor roll all 4 years of high school. When it comes to excelling at academics Jullian definitely shines the most in math and would have to say it has been his favorite subject throughout high school; it just always seemed to come super easy for him.

Not only was Jullian a stellar student, but he was also very involved in golf, and was very successful, earning Second Team All Conference in the Siouxland conference his freshman through junior year. Now it’s no surprise that a favorite memory with a teacher of Jullian’s comes from the many golf meets he’s attended; he says his all time favorite memory was anytime they would be driving back from golf meets with the entire team and coach Mr. McKenney. There was one particular tradition on the drives home that he especially enjoyed. If someone in the car had just golfed their first varsity meet, as a way to welcome them, the team would make them pick a song for the whole car to sing on the way home. Jullian is also proud that his golf team qualified for Districts his junior year.

If Jullian isn't golfing himself, you may find him working diligently at Willow Run Golf Course in Sioux Falls or skiing at Great Bear in Sioux Falls, which are two of his favorite things to do that don’t involve using his impressive golfing skills.

Jullian will really miss being able to hang out with his friends in and out of school, and cracking jokes with them throughout the day. Jullian’s favorite all-time West Lyon memory would have to be watching our incredible football team win the state 1A championship his senior year with his friends. Along with missing his friends he will also really miss his favorite school lunch, chicken patty on a bun. Jullian’s advice to underclassmen is, “nothing is ever that deep, just have fun.”

After graduation, Jullian plans to most likely attend a four year college for probably something in business, but is still undecided where he will attend college.

Sierra Tobin

By Savannah Smith

In 2008, to start our brand new year off, Sierra, known to many as Shrub, joined our world. To welcome her were her very proud parents, Brenda Ripperda and Paul Tobin. Shrub’s role model is her dad: “He has the sweetest soul to everyone, and he is the hardest worker.”

Sierra stays busy outside of school working diligently at Wiggles and Giggles Daycare in Larchwood. Now, a favorite memory with a teacher of Shrub’s is a pretty good one. Junior year in Chemistry, Emery and Shrub would bug Mrs. Halverson to go to SoDak Soda in Sioux Falls almost everyday in class. Then one day Shrub happened to be at SoDak Soda the same time as Mrs. Halverson, and they took a picture, and Mrs. Halverson even framed it in her room.

If Sierra had to choose a favorite subject throughout high school, It would definitely NOT be Spanish, because during her freshman and sophomore year, before every Spanish test, Sierra would cry about how she was gonna fail because she knew it was gonna be hard, and didn’t get what we were learning. On the other hand, Sierra did say that P.E. was her favorite class. In her words, “It was actually fun and didn’t involve me using my last brain cell.” Even though Shrub has never gotten a detention, her favorite West Lyon memory was almost the result of getting a couple, when in math class Mr. Mannes would yell at Shrub and the class everyday.

Now another funny memory that Sierra has happened to be at the state football game her senior year. Right after the championship game was over the next team playing (Valley) was surrounding the entire West Lyon student section not allowing anyone to leave, and they eventually starting pushing their way into the student section not even allowing any of the West Lyon students to cherish and watch the boys get the state championship trophy. This caused Sierra to get very irritated, which then caused a verbal argument to start between her and some of the other Valley students. Sierra showed them who’s boss and won the argument.

Sierra will miss the connections she has with some of the teachers here along with her favorite school lunch chili and cinnamon rolls. Her advice to underclassmen is don’t skip school everyday even if you don’t wanna go. She also advises students to not park your car in the mud, unless you wanna be late to first hour and have to have someone help drive your car out of the mud.

After graduation, Sierra plans to attend Southeast tech for Vet Technician, Ultrasound Technician, or Rad Technician.

Samuel Underberg

By Katelyn Berentschot

Samuel Underberg, well known as Samo and Undies to his friends and family, was born to his parents Chris and Jessica Underberg. Sam also has a younger brother, Mason (16). Sam’s father is his role model because he represents everything that Sam aspires to be in life and is always there supporting him throughout every key moment.

Throughout high school Samuel has been involved in football, basketball, track, baseball, NHS, and FCA. Sam has excelled in football and basketball. During his football career, he was Academic All-District, Academic All-State, and second team All-District Defensive Back. Another honor and Sam’s favorite memory from football is winning back to back state champions in 2024 and 2025 with his teammates. Meanwhile on the basketball court, his honors include, most improved player and being a state runner up in 2024. While you are probably impressed by his athletic achievements, you might be interested to know that Sam excels in the classroom as well. Throughout his 4 years in high school, he has been on Academic Honor Roll. Knowing that Sam is a good kid, it makes sense that he has never received a detention in his 13 years of school. Outside of school, Sam keeps himself busy with Youth Group during the week and being a Food Banquet Volunteer.

In Sam’s years of being in school, his favorite subject has always been the science classes as he has always enjoyed the content of what he is being taught, it is what he is most interested in, and all of his teachers have been amazing towards him. Sam’s favorite memory with a teacher was just being in Mrs. Bahnson’s 4th grade science class everyday. With every experiment and lessons she did, she made them each memorable and exciting to go to class everyday for him. Another funny memory from elementary school was when Cooper Schoening received a detention for throwing blocks at someone.

Sam’s advice to the underclassmen is to take in every moment and every opportunity and enjoy the time you get to spend with your friends everyday. What Sam will miss most is spending time with every one of his friends and classmates while we are still together. His favorite catch phrase to say with his friends is “step up.” He is always encouraging his teammates to “step up” during practice and games to be the best they can be. Sam plans to attend SDSU for Natural Sciences in the fall.