KeagenBender

The Senior Scoop is a collaboration between the administration and the Class of 2023. The host, Mr. Ming, interviews graduating senior Keegan Bender. They discuss Keegan's experiences at the school, his plans for the future, and his time at the Career Center. Keegan also talks about his athletic achievements and offers advice to underclassmen. They end the interview with some rapid-fire questions and Keegan expresses gratitude to his parents and coaches. The Senior Scoop is an opportunity for the community to hear directly from the senior class about their experiences, hopes, dreams, and reflections. The Scoop is a result of a collaboration between administration and the Class of 2023. We hope you'll enjoy chilling with us each week as we dish up a sweet treat of accumulated Wolverine wisdom 13 years in the making and introduce you to the fantastic young men and women who will soon become AGS alumni and tomorrow's community leaders. I'm your Senior Scoop host, Chris Ming, the proud superintendent of the Algrave-Sims School District. Thanks for listening. Now let's dig in. Good morning, Senior Scoop listeners. This is Mr. Ming, and we are back after a couple-week hiatus. The weather had turned cold for a couple weeks, and we were doing some state testing, but we are back featuring our senior class, and with me today is graduating senior, Keegan Bender. So, Keegan, thanks for joining me this morning. Thanks for having me, Mr. Ming. How are you doing? How are you doing this morning? I'm good. I see you're decked out in your baseball gear today, so we have a game? Not today, we don't have a game. We played yesterday, and it was kind of rainy out this morning, so I just threw on my windbreaker. All right, and what was the result yesterday? In the second game, we won 21-2. In the first game, we won, but I can't remember the score. Okay, so good enough that you won, but not quite sure of the numbers. Okay. How's the season going? We started out a little rough. We played some bigger schools at the beginning, but now that we're starting to play schools our size, we're starting to realize that we're better than what we thought. Okay. Weather has not been terribly cooperative this spring for outdoor sports. Hopefully, we're seeing a turn, and we can finish out strong here in the month of May. So, Keegan, I want to learn a little bit about you. I want to share your story with the community. So how long have you been an Algraecem student? I started kindergarten here, and I've been here ever since. So you worked your way from this end of the district all the way over to the other end of the district over time, huh? Yep. All right. Now, if I'm not mistaken, your parents attended here as well. Is that true? My stepdad attended here, but my mom and dad both went to A.E. Okay, so grew up in this area. Stepdad was here. Your mom and dad were from nearby. Now it's kind of merged into us and Standish. So what do you like about this area? I just like that it's a small town. You kind of know everybody, and everyone's pretty nice around here. There's a lot of people that would do anything for anyone. So what has it been like being in the same building for 13 years? I don't know. I guess you just kind of get used to it, and you have a routine. You come in every day, and you go to the same places for breakfast and lunch. So what do you think it's going to be like in the fall when you don't have that same routine? I think it's going to be different at first, but I don't think it'll be that hard to adjust to it. Okay. And what are your plans for next year? In the fall, I'll be attending Delta College for automotive. Okay. So are you looking at standard automotive, heavy, diesel, anything like that? Just a standard automotive technician. And what developed that interest for you in the automotive area? When I was younger, I used to go over to my grandpa's a lot, and he used to restore cars all the time. And I just thought it was cool, so I wanted to get into it. Okay. And that's something you picked up during your time at the Career Center, too, right? Yeah. I've gone to the Career Center for the last two years as an automotive student, and basically learned everything I needed to know to go to college. I do believe you're the first one of our podcasters here who attended the Career Center. So if you don't mind, maybe tell us a little bit about that experience there. Because we have a robust program. I actually found out yesterday that our ISD Career Center received national recognition. So why don't you tell me a little bit about what that experience is like, and being an Augury Sim student, but also spending your time down there. Well, so in the morning, I get to the school around 6.20, because the bus leaves at like 6.35-ish. And we have about an hour bus ride down there every day, there and back. And when we get there in the morning, at least in my class, we sit and we just do bell work, which is basically simple automotive questions. And then we'll go out in the shop and work on cars, and it's a lot of hands-on opportunity. Okay, so when did you make the decision that the Career Center was something you wanted to pursue? I always kind of wondered about it when I was younger and in elementary and everything, because I'd see past students coming in in like nursing clothes, and I'd wonder what they were doing. And then they would tell me that they went to the Career Center, and I was like, oh, that sounds kind of cool. So would you say that that two hours on the bus each day, and that commitment to being here early, was it worth it? Was the program worth putting that extra time into? I think so, yeah, because I like to learn hands-on, and that's what it was all about there. So give me a breakdown. I mean, automotive is obviously different than some of the other programs, but compare that to, say, your second half of the day where you're here. So how much of your learning at the Career Center is hands-on? It's probably close to 85% of it's hands-on. Excellent. I'm sure you knew some other people in other programs. Would they agree in other programs that it's similar? I think even in other programs, there's more hands-on than there is book work and things like that. Okay. Well, that's good for me to hear. I personally have a daughter who's in high school at this point, and I kind of push in there that direction. I don't know which programs she might be interested in, but I certainly enjoy my visits down there. So let's get back to your high school career here, because your name is one that's heard quite a bit around here. You've played a lot of sports. So why don't you talk about your athletic experience here? Well, at first, coming into middle school, it was kind of difficult for our teams, because we didn't really have enough people to field a team. So we would just put together every kid that we had and then try to play games. But we never were very good until high school. But that's changed a little bit, right? In high school, you guys have had some athletic success. Yeah. I think that once you have all four grades that can play together, and they bond, and as we work together, because we've known each other since we were little, and we just developed our athletic skills together and kind of went from there. Okay. Well, that's good to hear. I mean, it is difficult when you've known someone for that long, and getting them to get on board with that. All right. So let's get to one of your highlights here. So you've been here for a long time, and this is not to say it has to be an athletic highlight, but do you have any highlights from your time at Augur Ascent? I have a few athletic ones, but I also am in NHS, and I try to be helpful around the community when I can. Do you have any examples you're particularly proud of? This year for football, I was named the Associated Press Golden Player Helmet of the Year player. And that doesn't happen every year for an Augur Ascent student, does it? No, it's pretty rare, but you really have to have the stat lines and prove yourself every week to be able to get something like that. Do you happen to know when the last one was for an NHS student? The last one was actually last year. Our quarterback got it. Okay. But before that, I think it was a while. It was a long time before that. Excellent. All right. So now is that time in each interview where I ask for the words of wisdom. So we've got a lot of students in our school who are on a similar track as you. They are destined to be that 13-year AGS student. Same mascot, same colors, everything. Do you have any advice for those underclassmen who have gone to those football games, they've heard your name over the years, they've seen you in the hallway. Any advice you'd like to pass along on how to prosper? I would just say find something that you love to do and work hard at it. That's how you become great. Okay. So moving on to Delta next year. Commuting? Going to stay down there? I'll be commuting. Okay. Help out a little bit around the house? Yeah. We'll see you around here. Are we ever going to get you on the sidelines potentially coaching? Yeah. I've been talking to Brian, the head coach there, and I might take the classes and be a coach with him. I'll tell you, it's a rewarding experience. And I guarantee you, if you get that training, you become a coach, that you will look back at your time as a player and think very differently about your experience. It's a challenging thing to become a coach and I wish you could do some of those things you did back as a player a little differently. And then you have a little bit more patience for coaches at that point too. So I have to always ask a random question. I thought with you, I might do a rapid fire. So you up for a rapid fire? Okay. I'll give you an immediate result type thing. I'm going to give you a few questions. As quick as I can think of them, you've got to answer. So we'll start with this one. Easy one to start. Day or night? Night. U of M or MSU? MSU. Okay. Cat or dog? Dog. Up or down? Up. Skittles or M&M's? M&M's but peanut. Peanut. Okay. Hunting or fishing? Fishing. Indoor or outdoor? Out. Okay. Did very well. You're the first one to run through the rapid questions. Other random questions that I've asked a few people, but it's always fun to come up with. Do you have any favorite movies that you kind of look back and say like that kind of defined my time as a student? I kind of like the movie The Waterboy. The Waterboy. Okay. Do explain. Well, it's a football movie about a waterboy who at this big college had to be the waterboy and he got bullied all the time. And then he moved to a smaller college to be their waterboy. But he ended up being really good at football, so he played and then they won a national championship. Okay. And so what do you like in particular about that movie? I don't know. I just like it, I guess. Just another one of those funny Adam Sandler movies? Yep. All right. Well, Keegan, you've done a great job in this interview. We're coming to a close. Do you have any final words that you'd like to say? Any shout outs? Any thanks? Anyone you want to recognize in your final moments on this podcast? Well, I'd like to thank my parents for helping me through my whole career and always being there and running me to practices and everything. And then all the coaches that helped me become who I am today. And all the disciplinary that if I were to have any to help straighten me out and keep me on path to success. All right. Well, I'm sure that they appreciate that gratitude that you've expressed to them. And Keegan, I wish you the best of luck. And thank you very much for sitting down and taking time out of this lovely Friday afternoon. Thank you for having me. This has been a production of the Algraveson School District. Thanks for tuning in and we hope you join us again soon for another In Your School. Algraveson.com