Moeller's School Captains Lead School in Right Direction
Moeller’s school captain Peyton Bambauer
Photo by Tanner Hughes
At the end of 2017, Moeller High School's student body elected Peyton Bambauer, Adam Riesenberger, and Jacob Carota to be the new school captains. The position of school captain at Archbishop Moeller High School is not one to be taken lightly. Becoming a captain requires years of hard work in the classroom, through service, and in athletics. More importantly, it requires a man who has been a brother to everyone around them when they walk through the doors of Moeller.
The selection process of becoming a school captain is led by Mrs. Karen Matuszek, who is the director of the house system, and also "directly responsible for the school captains, and to act as a liaison for them, the students, and the administration here at Moeller." The selection process has changed in the past two years. Previously, whoever received the most votes was automatically the school captain, followed by the 2nd and 3rd top vote-getters being the vice captains. Now, according to Matuszek, "the deans and I interview all the candidates and select the person who is going to be the actual captain. In this particular case, Peyton Bambauer was the students first choice.”
The most unique quality of Peyton, Adam, and Jacob is that they are extremely close friends even when it doesn't come to their role as school captains. Jacob states "We've been really close friends ever since freshman year and the bonds have just been growing." With Adam adding that beyond being great friends, they work even better together as a unit.
Moeller High School vice captain Adam Riesenberger
Photo by Tanner Hughes
Being a school captain involves jobs such as greeting visitors at the doors, being the face of Moeller at photo ops, showing appreciation to faculty members, working with the alumni at Moeller, and much more. But when asked about the most important role, two things stood out among all of the other jobs. Jacob's main objective is to get as many people involved throughout the school as he possibly can. "We're here for the students, the boys. Whatever we can do to make everyone's experience at Moeller better."
According to Mrs. Matuszek the captains role is to "really know what's happening with their peers. They have to be the voice of the freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. When students have ideas, complaints, or anything else to bring attention to the administration, the captains are the voice." Peyton could not agree more. He aims to be a buffer between the administration and students, and to also put students in the best possible situation to succeed at Moeller.
Moeller High School vice captain Jacob Carota
Photo by Tanner Hughes
None of these three captains came in to Moeller thinking they would be a school captain, or believed they actually had the ability to become one. Peyton said it was on his mind as a freshman, but he had no idea if he had support from his classmates. He gradually gained confidence as the year went on and realized he was more than capable of fulfilling the role. He also knows how special it is to be elected as the school captain. "I think about guys like Logan Nelson and Kyle Zimmerman and how much they meant to me. I looked up to them. This is a huge honor." Adam and Jacob both desired to get involved in leadership roles, they just were not sure what role that was. Before becoming school captains, they had leadership roles in their own house (Peyton and Jacob being Zehler, and Adam being Trinity.)
It is safe to say that the role of school captain at Moeller High School is in the right hands. Peyton, Adam, and Jacob are working tirelessly every day to make other students have the best experience possible. They know the importance they have for the school, administration, and most of all, the students. These captains are here to continue to push Moeller in the right direction and help the students out any way that they can.