Hometown Hero - Briana Schwabenbauer

This week’s Hometown Hero is Briana Schwabenbauer of Holmen. She is a senior at Holmen High School and taking college courses at UW-L.

I first got to know Briana from her work on the Holmen School Board as the student representative. Unlike most kids who find themselves surrounded by adults, Briana didn’t sit back and let the grown-ups dominate the meetings. She continually puts forward new and creative ideas that would help both her school and fellow students. She championed increased internet access and computer services and organized board member outreach visits to the schools. And while she’s doing all of this, she still manages to pull a weighted 4.028 GPA!

In addition to her service on the school board, she has made quite a name for herself in the academic community. She serves as a member of the Principal’s Advisory at Holmen High where she works to set goals for district, school and student body improvement. She competed in the National History Day competition where she advanced to the national level twice and won the Outstanding State Award.

Briana’s passion and determination is also evident in her extra-curricular activities. She plays cello in the high school orchestra, acts in plays and musicals, competes on the Forensics/Speech team, and created a school club called the Young Women’s Empowerment Group to give students a place to discuss gender issues. Additionally, she is a camp counselor and a Sunday school teacher at St. Paul’s Lutheran church.

And even with all this, she still finds time to volunteer for National History Day as a judge, raise money through the Rainbow Network to sponsor students in Nicaragua, and sell t-shirts during her lunch break to advocate for the “End the R-Word” campaign. With all our busy days here in the Assembly, I’d love to know her secret for managing all these different activities.

This coming spring, Briana will be attending the Wisconsin State Senate Scholar Program in Madison. She was nominated by State Senator Jennifer Shilling for this highly competitive week-long educational program designed to give students experience in policy development, constituent relations and the legislative process. Briana is the first student from Holmen High School to be a Senate Scholar.

We need more people like you, Briana; people who are willing to devote themselves whole-heartedly to improving their community and the lives of their neighbors.

Congratulations to you, Briana! Keep up the good work and continue to be a Hometown Hero.

Hometown Hero is a weekly feature put together by Rep. Steve Doyle (D-Onalaska). If you have any suggestions of a Hometown Hero, send a short description of why you think this person should be a Hometown Hero and contact information of both you and the nominee to rep.doyle@legis.wisconsin.gov.