Brennan Jude Boltjes

The one and only Brennan Jude Boltjes was born on July 12, 2006, and ever since then he’s been causing good-natured mischief wherever he goes. His family includes his dad Bryan Boltjes, his mom Kim Metzger, and his step-dad Jesse Metzger. He also has four siblings Brayden, Aaryn, Eva, and Kaydence. His role model is also someone in his family, which is his grandfather who Brennan says, “is a cool fella.”

Brennan came to West Lyon as a seventh grader and spent his first three years as a Wildcat participating in wrestling, but he found his real West Lyon home in the shop. Throughout Brennan's time in high school, he found himself getting very involved in SkillsUSA. Spending time in Atlanta for SkillsUSA also happens to be one of Brennan's favorite West Lyon memories. He recalls staying out late with the upperclassman, specifically when they rode scooters around town and Martin Moser hit the curb so hard that he fell off (told you he liked to make mischief). Brennan’s time in SkillsUSA was marked by a couple of impressive awards in welding, which earned him his trip to Nationals. It’s too bad he didn’t apply these skills on the stool he welded for Mrs. Koedam, which ended up injuring another one of her students.

One unique talent of Brennan’s is his trap shooting ability. He has spent several hours trapshooting out of school through the Ameteur Trap Shooting Organization. Through his talent and hard work in this activity, he has been awarded multiple state and national trap shooting awards—in his words, “too many to count.” Brennan has also done a lot of traveling through his time for trap shooting. His favorite place to travel was to Sparta, Illinois, or Tuscon, Arizona (when asked if there was anything specific he liked about these places, he said, “Nah..they’re just pretty neat”). He has made many memories and a lot of friends as well!

Brennan has only had one detention, this was in junior high. While in math class he told Miss Sandbulte, “I’m thinking,” which we are all sure he did in the most polite tone because apparently she didn't like that very much. She was not the only teacher he'd been a little too blunt with because this continued into high school, specifically with Mr. Sievers. Mr. Sieverts claims that Brennan’s too abrasive which often makes people angry. This doesn’t bother Brennan too much that Sievers thinks this because shop with him also happens to be Brennan’s favorite class. He enjoys fabrication because he says, “I can do what I want.”

Brennan will miss listening to top drama in high school which he comments, “is very entertaining.” Brennan currently works at Midwest Livestock in Larchwood. After graduation, he plans to get his CDL so that he can get a job and drive truck for a while. This is also something Brennan encourages the underclassmen to do. He says, “Get a job.”

Samantha Kathryn Frances De Smet

Samantha Kathryn Frances De Smet also known as Sammy joined her parents Bridget and Michael De Smet on November 27, 2006. She completed their family and remained the favorite child and only child. 

During Samatha’s time at West Lyon she participated in volleyball during her junior high and freshman year. She also was involved in the musical, “Gone with the Wind.” Out of school she enjoys taking sports photography and giving the pictures to the individuals and teams. She kept up in school with being on the A honor, receiving an ABC award for 3.5 to 4.0 GPA, and was in the National Society of High School Scholars. 

When asked who her biggest role model is she said her Papa, Thomas Reinke. She said this is because no matter what he has always been there to help her family when they needed it. With everything he has gone through in life she admires his dedication to keep going. “He always shows up to support me when I have activities going on and will always call to say how proud he is of me when he sees my name in the newspaper for honor roll.” 

Samantha has made a lot of memories with one of her favorites happening in Mrs. Jill Meyer’s 2nd grade class. It was Saint Patrick's day and everybody in her class ensured they were wearing green so they wouldn’t get pinched. Well all besides one person, Mrs. Meyer. So Samantha took it upon herself to wait in line at her desk to ask a very important question. When she finally got to the front of the line she popped the question, “Are you wearing any green?” As Mrs. Meyer replied with, “No,” Samantha goes, “Since you aren’t wearing green can I pinch you?” Everyone paused and gasped because of what Samantha had just asked a TEACHER! She thought about it for a moment and finally answered, “Yes.” So she did a little pinch on her arm and walked away. 

Her memories didn’t stop there as another favorite memory from 2nd grade is that she would eat smarties all the time. This led to her one day putting them in her water bottle and bringing it to school. People would ask her why she did that and she would tell them it will make her smarter, it’s smarty water! Her classmates thought that it would taste gross but honestly to her it almost just tasted like regular water with just a hint of sweetness. The water bottle that she would use always made a very obnoxious noise, if there was no straw you had to tip it over to drink out of it and when she did, it announced it to the whole class sounding like a dolphin sound.

After high school Samantha plans to go to a four year college to get a bachelor's degree in elementary education and a special education dual. Then go straight through to get her masters degree. She will miss her art classes and being able to learn techniques. She will also miss seeing her friends and having classes with them along with making special connections with the teachers and administration.

Samantha Marie Feikema

Samantha Marie Feikema, known as Sam or Sammy to most, was born on the beautiful summer day of June 19, 2006 to her loving parents Chris (46) and Janet (43) Feikema. Sam’s role model is her mom. Sam explains, “She has always pushed me to be the best version of me and to do well in school. She has always believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself.” If you want to know a couple of fun facts about Sam, she is an only child and has a dog named Jack. 

Like most of us, Sam has some great memories growing up as a young Wildcat. She will never forget her very memorable 4th grade state fair project, where she got to learn a lot more information about Oregon with a partner, but of course that didn’t top going outside for recess and swinging on the tire swing until she was really dizzy. 

As Sam grew older, she found her place in the West Lyon Drama Department, which helped form some good memories from her high school years. Throughout high school, Sam has been actively involved in the Fall Musical and Spring Play for many years as well as dancing at the Dance Gallery of South Dakota. High School Musical 2, performed last school year 2023, was her all time favorite because of the fun choreography and different people involved! 

While Sam loved drama as an extracurricular, there were a couple teachers during the school day that really stood out to her. Last year, Sam had the privilege to take mass media with Mrs. Koedam, which was her favorite subject throughout her high school career. She says that Mrs. Koedam was such a fun teacher to work with and was always willing to sit down and help Sam one-on-one to improve her writing skills. Another teacher Sam really appreciates is Mrs. Lynott; Sam says some of her favorite moments with any teacher came when she was working with Mrs. Lynott because of how supportive she is and always makes learning fun.

As Sam leaves the walls of West Lyon behind, she will miss seeing and talking to all of her classmates and friends everyday. Or when it was pizza for lunch! If she were to give advice to underclassmen, Sam would tell them not to give up and to never slack off because it only makes things worse in the long run. After Sam graduates, she will be attending a 2 year school to get a license in massage therapy.