Madyson Klapka

Through rigorous courses, countless community service hours, athletics, and clubs, Madyson displays great leadership, as well as her dedication and hard work. Very few students are willing to take on the responsibility and challenges Madyson has. She never shies away from taking on extra work and approaches all of her work with great aptitude and attitude. Her willingness to get involved in shown through her various commitments such as DECA, Varsity Tennis, Sources of Strength, TATU Club, Save the Turtles Club, Peer Tutoring, National Honor Society, Wisconsin DECA's Leadership Council, a manager at the Patriot Pro Shop, several AP/CAPP Courses, and two part-time jobs. While remaining involved, Madyson has maintained a perfect GPA of 4.0.

She gives back to her community by volunteering her time ringing bells for Salvation Army, collecting cans for the annual Trick-or-Can food drive, raking elderly/disabled members of the community's yard, packing meals at Feeding America, tying blankets for the local animal shelter, nursing home, and children's hospital, taking the icy plunge for Special Olympics, organizing and running the fundraiser for East Tackles Cancer for Snowdrop Foundation, and so much more. She has received the Outstanding Service Award for three years, as well as the Youth Alliance Award her junior year.

Madyson's highest display of achievement has been through DECA. She started her DECA journey as a general member, joined the Leadership Team as a sophomore, became the Vice President of Event Management her junior year, and is currently the President of the Appleton East Chapter. She has organized community service events, recruited endless amounts of members over the years, as well as runs chapter and officer meetings. Madyson is one of the top competitors at Appleton East and the state. She has competed since her freshman year, where she has qualified for Wisconsin DECA's State Career Development Conference each year since. She has also qualified for the International Conference since her sophomore year. That is incredibly impressive for any competitor. Her most notable year was her junior year where she began by placing first with her partner at our District event. At the state level, she placed first in her twenty-page paper and presentation on her work with East Tackles Cancer, which raised over $19,000 for Snowdrop.

Madyson has been a true leader in competition and has excelled in her other leadership roles as well. She created the Appleton East DECA website as a resource for members to stay more connected and to highlight the chapter's business partnerships. Her leadership within the Patriot Pro Shop is shown through her creation of the scheduling application for employees, and the management of finances. Additionally, she has attended the Emerging Leaders Conference for DECA since her freshman year, in which workshops and key note speakers are offered to further develop leadership skills.