ASHLAND — Tyler Hartzler, a soon-to-be 8th grader at Mapleton, is taking steps (and leaps, and sprints) toward his future.
Tyler is involved in cross country and track at Mapleton Middle School, where he also serves on the Student Council and as Vice President of the National Junior Honor Society.
As part of Student Council, Tyler has helped coordinate school dances and Mapleton Cares Day. The Student Council organizes the dances, including what treats to serve, and Mr. Ortiz takes care of the music. Some of the activities that have taken place in the community around Mapleton Cares Day include free car washes and painting the dugouts at the baseball field.
Tyler has logged 15 hours of outside community service so far toward his commitment with the National Junior Honor Society.
He volunteers with Matthew 25 Ministry, which hands out food to those in need on the fourth Saturday of each month at Luray Lanes. Tyler has distributed food several times now. He learned about the opportunity through a fellow member at his church, Cross Connect, in Loudonville.
Tyler believes these experiences are helping him to make good decisions. Both the National Junior Honor Society and Student Council are teaching him leadership skills and teamwork, both of which will be important for whatever he decides to do in the future.
When Tyler thinks about the future, he’s not entirely sure what he wants to do, but he would like to become “a preacher man.”
“That’s what I feel called to do,” Tyler said.
Tyler’s favorite subject in school is world history because he finds it interesting to see what people have done in the past.
Tyler’s parents are Vince and Courtney Hartzler. He has two older brothers, Dylan (a soon-to-be sophomore at Mapleton, age 15) and Luke (a graduated senior, age 18). He also has two cats and eight chickens.
Tyler is another shining example of the kinds of students we have at Mapleton Local Schools!
