Rotary Club of Independence honors three outstanding seniors

Cameron Barrett, Andrea Locke and Kassidy Ritchel have been selected as Students of the Month by the Rotary Club of Independence.

Barrett is a senior at William Chrisman High School and was selected as Student of the Month for House 1 and has placed first at districts for FBLA the last two years.

In addition, he is vice president of the Student Council; is involved with the Grain Valley Police Explorer program; is a LINK Crew member for freshmen transition; is president of FBLA; has served as the Bear mascot the last two years; played one year of varsity football and two years on the Junior Varsity baseball team; is a member of the ACE Club and Spanish Club and is student liaison for the building’s emergency preparedness committee.

Barrett plans to study history at MCC-Blue River. After earning an associate’s degree, he would like to go into the police academy at Blue River. His mother is Lisa Sims.



Locke is a senior at William Chrisman and is a McCoy Award recipient; is a member of the National Honor Society and the National Spanish Honor Society; is the school record holder in the 4x1 meter dash in track; received the Athlete of the Year Award in varsity track and has received awards for maintaining a 3.9 GPA.

In addition, she is senior class secretary; is president of DECA; is a member of FBLA, Student Council, ACE Club and Spanish Club; is involved with the Nutra-Net program; participates on the varsity track and field team; is involved with the AAU Kansas City high performance Track and Field program and is in her church’s youth group.

Locke plans to attend the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and major in secondary education with a minor in business/marketing. She would like to eventually receive her doctorate degree in education and become a professor. Her parents are Anthony and Theresa Locke.



Ritchel is a senior at Truman High School and is a McCoy Award recipient; was selected as a Star Student of the Month by the Independence School District; is a two-time academic letter recipient; received the LeRoy Brown Journalism Award; was Truman’s Female Athlete of 2008-09; is a member of the National Honor Society and was a conference and district team winner for the last three years.

In addition, she is a member of the varsity basketball and volleyball teams; is involved with Student Council; is a member of the yearbook staff and participates with the PATS program.

Ritchel plans to attend college and major in secondary education or journalism. Her parents are Jasen and Sherri Ritchel.