OMHS student named to state Superintendent Advisory Council

Caleb Van Geffen, a senior at Oak Mountain High School, has been selected to serve as a member of the 2016-2017 State Superintendent Student Advisory Council.

The State Superintendent Student Advisory Council is a group of 16 middle or secondary school students who discuss how decisions are made at the state level and affect students throughout Alabama. These students will meet up to three times per year and will provide input to the State Superintendent of Education on issues that affect them.  The members are advisers and act as liaisons between the Alabama Department of Education and the students of Alabama.

Van Geffen is an active student athlete at OMHS where he is an all-county cross country runner (and two-year captain of the team), a member of the state and national championship boy’s soccer team, and the varsity track and indoor track teams.

Van Geffen is a member of Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society and Rho Kappa Honor Society. He has been active in the OMHS Student Government Association all four years of high school.  He also served as the 11th-grade class treasurer, the 12th-grade executive council vice president, Key Club parliamentarian, and has been a member of the Master’s Program for three years.  He is also an active member of the French Club.

He is an involved member of Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church, where he serves as a Sunday school and vacation Bible study volunteer and in the student youth group. He also started a Bible study with his peers that meets every Friday morning before school.

In his letter of recommendation, math teacher and head soccer coach Daniel DeMasters noted that Van Geffen is not only an important contributor on the field but off the field also.

“Off the field, he is an amazing student, helps others with school work, gets along with all his peers and most importantly does the right things for the right reasons,” said DeMasters. “Caleb has a cumulative GPA of 4.40 and is a very mature and professional student. I know that his good habits will continue to grow as a person and a student. On the field, his preparation, physical fitness and game execution makes him a player you want on your team and his selflessness and drive to make others better is second to none.”

His characteristics of honesty and integrity, along with other strong leadership abilities, make him an excellent representative for the State Superintendent’s Leadership Council, DeMasters said.

“Caleb certainly ‘walks the walk,’” DeMasters said. “Our school, community, and soccer program benefit having Caleb be a part of it! I would even venture to say that if there were more people like Caleb in this world, the communities we live in, would be such a better, friendlier and effective place to live and be a part of.”

– Submitted by Shelby County Schools.