Inclusion is a pretty big deal for Adonis VanLeeuwen.
 
A junior at Seaman High School, he's spent the past two years deeply involved with the school's Equity Action Network – a student-focused club whose purpose is to make Seaman more inclusive for minority students.
 
"We just want to promote inclusion in the school," said VanLeeuwen, who is one of the club's student ambassadors and on the leadership team. "We're teaching kids how to combat micro-aggression, racism, biases. Our school isn't perfect, but we're trying to get it there."
 
Being biracial – his biological father is Black and his biological mother is white – the club is a way for VanLeeuwen, this week's Capitol Federal True Blue® Student of the Week, to relate his experiences to his peers as well as learn from others. But the need for connection that he's found in the club goes much deeper than that.
 
From the time VanLeeuwen was an infant until early grade school, his life was in constant flux. He bounced between living with his biological parents and multiple foster homes, going back and forth, and at times caring for his younger siblings.
 
The constant change and unknown of what the next month, week or even day would hold understandably threw up guards and sometimes elicited rebellious behavior.
 
"I was young so I don't remember as much, but it was definitely tough on me," VanLeeuwen said. "There were times I'd get angry and get upset, going through childhood trauma. I definitely struggled making connections with people. Family, I never really had a true sense of family because I was in and out so much."
 
At the time, he admitted his future didn't look promising.
 
"I thought I'd fall through the cracks," he said. "I never thought adoption would be an option for me and I'd just be in foster care until I was 18."
 
When VanLeeuwen was in third grade, however, his life changed. Adoption did indeed become an option as a family he'd spent respite care time with – Jay and Jennifer VanLeeuwen – decided to formally adopt both Adonis and his younger brother, David.
 
For the first time in his life, VanLeeuwen truly felt a part of something. Even if it took a little getting used to.
 
"When I first got adopted, it was hard to accept that I was actually a part of a family," he said. "It felt great when I got adopted. At the beginning, I didn't understand what it meant to be part of a family. This family wasn't going to leave you. You're loved by them. It felt awesome to have something permanent."
 
A natural extrovert, VanLeeuwen slowly began to open up and become himself. He got involved with multiple activities, joining the Indian Creek 4-H Club, of which the VanLeeuwens were heavily active. He now serves on its parliament.

He also joined the youth group at Mother Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church, eventually being a part of the Committed Catholic Girls and Guys (C2G2) group once he reached high school. At school, he was involved with Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Key Club.
 
VanLeeuwen also threw himself into sports, playing basketball, baseball and soccer as a youth before settling on football and track once he hit high school.
 
During his sophomore year, his Spanish teacher, Amy Calhoun, approached VanLeeuwen about joining EAN, knowing his personality would make him an ideal fit.
 
"I was like, 'I'll join this group, why not?'" VanLeeuwen said. "But once I got into it, I was really into it. At the time, it was the whole, 'Let's re-name Seaman' thing that was going on. I didn't know much about it but really found out more once I got involved.
 
"I walk through this school every day and see things. I was never really a big person to speak out about stuff. I was definitely not a person to join on my own will. But now that I've gotten involved, I don't regret it one bit."
 
The club meets weekly to ask hard questions and have conversations about racism, providing a setting where students can be comfortable about sharing their experiences and become further educated. As an ambassador, VanLeeuwen has attended conferences and trainings to further his own understanding of what leadership is and how to educate others on hard topics.
 
He now leads meetings and recently worked with a fellow student to brainstorm a plan to work with underclassmen and help have conversations about acceptance and bias. VanLeeuwen said the EAN is also in the process of doing a school-wide affinity group to bring together different ethnicities.
 
"Adonis is a motivated student," Calhoun said. "He not only pushes himself but also his peers to make our community a better, more diverse and inviting place for all students.  It is inspiring watching him create change from the ground up."
 
VanLeeuwen was heavily involved in the student push to try to change the name of the school after student journalists uncovered that the school's namesake, Fred Seaman, was revealed to have been a Ku Klux Klan leader.
 
"I've been in the Seaman district for a long time so at the beginning I guess I didn't really care," he said. "But as I got into it and saw what it represented, that's when my mind started to flip. It wasn't about the name, but about what it represented – that wasn't what I wanted Seaman represented as, the school I go to represented as."
 
Ultimately the Seaman District School Board decided to keep the school name, but remove any likenesses of Fred Seaman from the school buildings.
 
VanLeeuwen said the more he's become involved the more he feels a responsibility to share his voice.
 
"I used to be pretty quiet, but now if I need to say something, I will speak my mind," he said. "Conversation of race between my friends, it's a topic that's uncomfortable. But that's what EAN is for. We want to make it more comfortable, for people to be able to speak their own minds and be heard. There are times where it will be uncomfortable but having those uncomfortable conversations is going to help open up a way to be comfortable."
 
Rick Rineberg, social studies teacher and boys golf and assistant football coach, said VanLeeuwen's personality is infectious. And that helps being an influencer, particularly after overcoming his challenging childhood.
 
"He's a great kid to have in class," Rineberg said. "He's always listening and participating in class. He's a funny kid so you can joke around with him. It makes class a lot more fun when he's in there. He's very engaging.
 
"A lot of kids are resilient behind the scenes. Because Adonis puts himself out there on the athletic field in the different clubs, you get to see it more first-hand his resiliency. Being in foster care growing up, that can be difficult for a lot of different reasons. But he came through it and is better for it."
 
When it comes to his involvement with EAN, however, VanLeeuwen said it's about effecting change.
 
"You usually don't get your top athletes involved with that, but it's not about popularity," he said. "It's a chance to help people and be a part of something that's bigger than just yourself."