For four years, Landon Pottebaum and Avery Ridgley have been pretty active with the Montgomery County High School FFA chapter.

Now, the seniors are busy as student members of the Montgomery County R-II School Board.

Pottebaum and Ridgley were selected as the student representatives of R-II Student District board, giving them an opportunity to share news about their school once a month. They are part of a board that includes president Maria Stille, vice-president Karl Finke, secretary Karl Queathem, treasurer Kali Salazar and members Mike Deering, Kasey Pottebaum and Micah Hans.

“Honestly, I really enjoy it,” Ridgley said. “I didn’t know what to expect. Being able to take the things that we’re super involved in, are very passionate about and work so hard for and be able to share that with the school board is very rewarding because then we make sure they understand what they should support based on how it’s helping the students and the community.”

School board meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month. Every meeting starts off with a report from the student board members. Pottebaum and Ridgley discuss information on the activities that are going on at MCHS as well as the groups. In the March 13 meeting, they discussed items such as the Montgomery County boys basketball team’s postseason run and the FFA meeting.

“It’s really good for me to see and to show the board what we’re doing and how they can support that because most of these people from the community are not at the school everyday, so they really don’t know what’s going on at the high school,” Pottebaum said. “A lot of them just like to be informed.”

Pottebaum and Ridgley are president and vice-president, respectively, of the MCHS FFA chapter this year. Pottebaum recently qualified for state in grain production, while Ridgley advanced to state in speech competition over the fall.

Ridgley said one of the best parts of her and Pottebaum being student board members is showing their passion for FFA in their reports.

“I do really like that Landon and I are heavy in FFA,” Ridgley said. “I like that we’re able to really bring a strong report in FFA and show them how truly important it is.”

Ridgley and Pottebaum are also members of the FCCLA, Student Council and National Honor Society groups at MCHS.

Ridgley plans to attend Oklahoma State University and major in animal science and pre-med.

“I toured there and I just love it,” Ridgley said. “Then I toured Mizzou and I felt like Oklahoma was the right place for me. When I got scholarships back and stuff, it seemed like the right choice.”

Pottebaum wil attend the University of Missouri-Columbia next year.

“It will be great going so close to home,” said Pottebaum, who will major in natural resources, fisheries and wildlife. “I toured a lot of other places like Colorado State. I really wanted to go there, but their out-of-state tuition is too high. It makes more sense to save money, go in-state and still get a great education.”