Some people have paths they are destined to follow in their lives.
 
Kyra Bergman can certainly relate.

The Centralia senior couldn’t help but become consumed with volleyball. Her mother, Brenda, was the Panthers’ junior high coach for more than 20 years before retiring last year. Her older sister, Tara, was a standout for the Panthers from 2012-15, helping lead them to Class 1A Division I state championships as a sophomore and junior.
 
Shoot, Kyra was even born on state volleyball championship weekend in 2004 – the same weekend Centralia was capping its run of eight straight state championships.
 
“It’s always been a part of me,” Kyra said. “If (Tara) wasn’t playing, mom was coaching. Since I was 3 or 4, I’ve had a volleyball in my hand.”
 
As engrained as volleyball is in Bergman’s blood, there’s another intrinsic trait Bergman holds that has defined her throughout her life. Call it the giving gene.
 
Even when she was young, Bergman found ways to give back to her community and she hasn’t stopped. Starting with volunteering at the age of 5 at the Dan Wells Memorial Poker Run that raises money for people in the Centralia area that face medical financial need, Bergman has always been willing to lend a hand where it’s needed.
 
“It’s really just the interaction with people,” Bergman said of what draws her to volunteerism. “I’ve always wanted to help people in any way I could, or find a way if they need help doing something.  If there’s a community event, can I get involved in some way if I have time? It’s just how I roll.”
 
So it’s only natural that Bergman’s two passions – volleyball and volunteering – have come together this fall.
 
With the state facing a shortage of volleyball officials, Bergman – this week’s CapFed® True Blue® Student of the Week – decided to do her part to help out. With Brenda – who returned to officiating volleyball this year after previously doing it for more than a decade in the early 2000s – serving as her mentor, Kyra is doubling up this fall.
 
Playing middle hitter for Centralia’s volleyball team, Bergman has helped lead the Panthers to a 26-7 record. On nights when she’s not playing, Bergman often can be found officiating junior high contests.
 
“I was talking to Josh Tanking (the Twin Valley League commissioner) one day this summer and he asked me, ‘Do you think Kyra would be interested in officiating?’” said Brenda, who is also mentoring Frankfort junior Kaitlynn Combs this fall. “I said I’d ask her and there was no convincing. She immediately said, ‘Oh yeah, that would be fun. I’ll do that.’”
 
For Kyra, it really was a no-brainer.
 
“I know there’s not many people around here that are able to do it and we’ve seen quite a shortage in refs,” Kyra said. “I felt like I could do something to give back. What better way than to officiate volleyball?”
 

Many nights Bergman will go straight from practice to officiating junior high matches in Centralia, having a break of anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. She’s done a handful of tournaments when Centralia was off that weekend and recently worked a JV quad.
 
“I was a little nervous to start,” she admitted. “But the second week in August I went to an officials clinic and that helped a lot. Just the help from all the veteran officials and instructors. They told me I was a natural at it. I know the sport and it helped to know that I know the calls more than most people in the crowd do.
 
“It’s been fun. I’ve always loved volleyball. It’s another reason to stick around and be involved.”
 
Eventually, Bergman plans to work her way up to varsity matches. After she’s done playing this fall, Bergman said she planned to continue to officiate while in college if her schedule allows.
 
Given Bergman’s hectic lifestyle to this point, it shouldn’t be an issue. When it comes to handling a schedule chocked full from sun up to sun down, Bergman has become a master.
 
“Some people thrive on being busy like that,” Brenda said. “My husband gets up and leaves at 5 a.m. and goes to work and then goes out and harvest until 11-11:30 p.m. So I think she comes by it naturally. She thrives on it and she’s a very schedule-driven person.”
 
In addition to having played volleyball since an early age – not to mention serving as Brenda’s junior high team manager from the age of 4 – Kyra also began dance when she was in first grade at Little Steps Dance and Gymnastics in Seneca. She has continued her dance career ever since and got involved with competitive dance for the company.
 
This summer, she performed a solo at the Starpower Tour in Branson, Mo., and placed fifth nationally.
 
“I just really like how I can go and just let my emotions out a little bit,” Kyra said of her draw to dacne. “It’s something that just eases my mind. I don’t really have to think about anything else besides what you’re doing next. You just get used to that feeling of being able to express your own emotions. It’s kind of a stress-reliever.”
 

Dance has translated to Bergman being a Centralia cheerleader for all four years of high school. And it also played no small role into her acting in the school play the past three years, though her first endeavor wasn’t exactly what she was expecting.
 
“I was just planning on being a props manager,” Bergman said. “I was close with the teacher and she texted me a day or two after auditions and said, ‘Hey, we are missing this role and I think you’d be great with it. There’s a little bit of singing, but we’ll help you out with it.’ I said OK. When I got to school the next week, I found out the singing was by myself.”
 
When Brenda got to watch that initial performance, she was somewhat surprised.
 
“She had a singing solo – she didn’t bother to tell us she had a solo,” Brenda recalled. “Kyra was pretty timid as a little kid. She was one that would always hide behind you and didn’t want to say 'Hi.' But I also can remember her telling me in the third or fourth grade, ‘You know Mom, sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone and do things that are different and will challenge you a little bit.’”
 
Bergman’s schedule is challenging indeed.
 
In addition to volleyball and cheer, she will also be a four-year athlete in basketball this winter and in track and field in the spring, where she throws the shot put and discus.
 
Bergman is involved in SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving) and FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) at Centralia as well as the treasurer of both her class and the National Honor Society. She holds a 4.0 GPA and is ranked No. 1 in her class and as a seventh-grader was a Duke TIP (Talent Identification Program) Award recipient for her ACT score. As an eighth-grader, she earned the KSHSAA Citizenship Award.
 
As a freshman, Bergman also joined Centralia’s KAY Club and has since become not only the president for the Centralia club but also the Area 3 KAY president.
 
“I’ve always been a go-getter wanting to help people,” Bergman said of her draw to KAY. “I saw it as an opportunity to do more service in the community. My sophomore year, going to do elections and a lot of people were like, (the president) should be Kyra. I accepted the nomination and became president.”
 
Under Bergman’s tenure, the Centralia club has participated in events such as the Rake and Run, where club members rake leaves, trim trees and haul off the debris for elderly residents in the Centralia community. Another popular activity has been the Fill A Door project where students are awarded a free day at school if they fill a teacher’s door with canned goods or dry food.
 
Last year, Bergman said that event completely filled KAY sponsor Lora Whetzal’s vehicle as well as her own with items for the local food pantry.
 
“It goes over really well every year,” she said. “All the high schoolers love it.”
 
For her area project, Bergman and the KAY club organized a Cruise Night recently in Centralia where they served meals, had face painting and tattoos, live music and a variety of other activities designed to get the community to come together.
 
“That’s something that’s been lost the last few years, the interaction with each other and getting along and coming together to have fun,” she said.
 
Bergman has helped prepare for the KAY leadership camp held every July and the camp has had such an effect on Bergman that she’s already asked to be on the camp staff once she graduates.
 
Outside of her school activities, Bergman has been a member of the God Squad at St. Bede’s Catholic Church for the past five years and has attended the Catholic Heart Work Camp the past two summers where she’s helped out in various areas of need including painting, building decks and handicap ramps.
 
She also helps Brenda with the task of mowing St. Bede’s cemetery each summer, fitting those duties in around her summer weight training and her job as a lifeguard/swim instructor at the Centralia pool.
 
“There are times where it gets stressful, but you do what you can to make it work,” Bergman said. “It’s just the interaction and knowing I’m helping someone else’s day out. I’ve always been one to say, ‘If you see a smile, give a smile or put a smile on someone else’s face.’ I like seeing people enjoy themselves and what they’re doing. It doesn’t hurt to help one another out.”
 
Which Brenda said is fitting.
 
“It comes naturally for both of us as parents, if something needs to get done, you better do it,” she said. “I think both of my kids have gotten that from both of us.”