Ellie Shoemaker isn’t one to demand the spotlight.
 
It’s just not the Osage City senior’s style.
 
“I’m not the person that wants all the attention on me as soon as I walk into a room,” Shoemaker said. “I mean if I have something meaningful to say, I do not mind being in the spotlight. But I don’t demand attention unless there’s something to pay attention to.”
 
While Shoemaker’s presence at Osage City High School may not demand the spotlight, it certainly commands it.
 
Whether it’s serving as a class or club president, competing in debate or forensics, broadcasting Osage City basketball games or starring in the school play, the spotlight has found Shoemaker more often than not. This week’s CapFed® True Blue® Student of the Week, Shoemaker is never one to shy away from it.
 
“There has always been something special about her,” Osage City athletic director and cross country/track and field coach James Bellinger said. “When she walks in, she demands your attention without demanding your attention. She’s just that kid, just an awesome kid. She’s the kind of kid you hope your daughter grows up to be.
 
“She’s passionate about everything she does. She really puts her whole self into everything she does and that’s why she is who she is. Everybody kind of looks up to her. Her wheelhouse is the intangibles that will make her very successful for a very long time. She’s just special.”
 
It took all of one meeting for Osage City debate and forensics coach Dustin Stucky to learn that about Shoemaker.
 
Stucky arrived at Osage City High School when Shoemaker was beginning her freshman season. Debate was an activity Shoemaker’s middle school teachers had encouraged her to give a try once she reached high school.
 
“I’d done speeches in middle school and my teachers always said I’d do really great in debate and forensics,” Shoemaker said. “It was just something that was out there and not a lot of kids did, so I wanted to give it a shot. The more I got into it, the more I fell in love with it. I honestly can’t tell you what it was that got me into it. I just remember walking in the first day and being, ‘OK, I’ll do this.’”
 
That first day, Stucky also had an honest message for his potential debate team members.
 
“My first class was the first time I had coached or taught debate and really had very little idea what I was doing,” Stucky said. “I walked in and said, ‘All right kids, we’re going to figure this out together.’ And some of the kids were really disappointed to hear their brand new coach was new to the event. But Ellie had a positive attitude about it and really helped me out a lot that first season just what we needed to do, what she needed to do.
 
“Over the years, she’s gotten better and better and a lot of our success comes from her leadership in that group, going back to that first day and having a positive attitude and not being deterred with the difficulties inherent in starting something new. She was eager for the challenge.
 
“It was a first impression and a lasting impression.”
 
Shoemaker led the Osage City four-speaker debate team to the state tournament her junior and senior seasons with the Indians finishing fourth in Class 3A this fall. This season, she also got to debate with younger sister, Sadie, which Shoemaker said made the accomplishment even more satisfying.
 
Stucky said the key to Shoemaker’s success in the debate arena isn’t necessarily her knowledge, which is extensive as an honor student who ranks fourth in her graduating class. It’s derived more from the persona she carries on the platform whether she’s arguing the affirmative or negative.
 
“She just matches the energy wherever she goes,” Stucky said. “She’s not a traditional debater in the sense that she’s just delivering straight-forward information. That’s what a lot of debate seems to be, rapid delivery of basic information. Her success comes from how genuine she is in debate. She’s genuine, direct and very convincing, not because of an overabundance of facts slung at the judge, but because she connects with the judge and really engages them to get them to where she needs them to be.”
 
Those traits stem from Shoemaker’s theatrical side, which got off to a somewhat reluctant beginning. When she was little, Shoemaker’s mother, Debbie, directed the Christmas program at their church and turned to her daughter to be a part of the program.
 
Shoemaker recalls at first being a bit hesitant to participate.
 
“I wasn’t the kid that wouldn’t talk to people or anything like that,” she said. “But I was more reserved.”
 
It didn’t take long for her to acknowledge that it was a perfect fit for her personality.
 
“There was something about being up on a stage and being somebody else that really helped me come out of my shell and find the love for the spotlight,” Shoemaker said. “People would say, ‘There’s no way that’s Ellie. She’s so quiet when we’re around her.’”
 
Shoemaker has constantly fed that adrenaline rush throughout her high school career. In addition to competing in debate, she’s starred in school plays all four years, holding down lead roles. She’s also competed in forensics and is a three-time state qualifier in Extemporaneous Speaking, in which participants are given 30 minutes to prepare a seven-minute speech on a randomly drawn question relating to current events.
 
“I enjoy learning as much as I can about one topic in 30 minutes and then trying to convince someone else to believe me in that time,” she said. “Once I got a topic about Venezuelan economic policy and equated that to Star Wars and won with that one. It’s an adrenaline rush I feel.”
 
As comfortable as she is on the stage, be it in debate, forensics or theater, Shoemaker had a natural pull to following a career path in broadcast journalism. She found an avenue to jump-start that pursuit during the COVID school year in 2020-21.
 
Fan attendance at home basketball games was limited greatly and with Osage City boasting a proud basketball tradition, the community was in demand of seeing the Indians play. Osage City technology teacher Andy Lohmeyer started up the OCHS production program and teaming up with then-senior Wyatt Orender, Shoemaker became the “Voice of the Indians” for the basketball broadcasts, a title she’s held for three seasons.
 
“That was totally up my alley and I felt I needed the experience,” she said. “It was so much fun. It’s a lot of the same skills I have for theater and forensics and I enjoy it for the same reasons. But you can’t see me so I enjoy that you just get to hear me speak and I don’t have to worry about my body language. I enjoy just getting to tell the story of what’s going on out on the court.”
 

 
Even as she honed her craft on the mic, Shoemaker said her future intentions have deviated off the path of going into broadcast journalism. Instead, she’s back on a career path that really started when she was a young girl.
 
Shoemaker has always been a history buff, with a particular emphasis on government and the U.S. Constitution.
 
So much so that she had some pretty lofty goals when she was little.
 
“I always said I wanted to be the first woman president,” she said, stating that she even had a target year in mind for that to become a reality. “Even know, my class reminds me that’s what I wanted and I still have a chance.”
 
She’s gotten plenty of practice. Shoemaker has been her class president all four years of high school. She’s also served as president for a year each of Osage City’s National Honor Society, the Future Business Leader of America club and the Student Council.
 
“My whole life it’s been a goal to be a leader and I have a personality that’s put me in a lot of leadership positions,” Shoemaker said. “I just try to work on it and become the best leader I can because that’s what God has for me. Getting to see other people work together to put something forward and be a part of that excites me. And also helping people inspires me to see how they come together and take their ideas and put them into play. I do feel like I’ve seen a lot of projects come together and I feel like I have a part in the things I see people do.”
 
Bellinger said Shoemaker has always been the natural choice to fill those leadership roles at Osage City.
 
“It is given to her because of who she is,” he said. “The other kids respect her so much. She leads the group not because she’s vocal or demands it, but because she’s got ‘it’ and other kids see that. It’s that ‘It’ factor and she’s got it and everybody knows it.”
 
Her passion for government and the law was particularly stoked during her sophomore debate season when the topic was criminal justice reform. It struck a chord with Shoemaker and not only did it strengthen her love for debate, it also strengthened her passion for the law and a potential future in the legal realm.
 
The somewhat toxic national political climate across America has only fueled that desire even more.
 
“I just see a lot of the Constitution being called into play,” Shoemaker said. “The Constitution is so foundational to our country that somebody needs to protect it. It’s called into question so often and people talk all the time about wanting to change it. And I just think it’s inherently what our country is built upon and I want to keep it the way it’s supposed to be.
 
“It aggravates me and motivates me. It’s aggravating because when I turn on the news, I don’t see anything getting done. First off, what I want to see is the American people put first. It also motivates me to achieve the goals I have and what I think God’s plan is for me and be his hand to the country and to get to the point where I can do that.”
 
Shoemaker plans to study constitutional law at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., which is roughly two hours outside of Washington D.C. She got the experience of a lifetime last summer when she participated in the Henry Clay Center High School Student Congress at the University of Kentucky -- one of 50 juniors nationwide chosen for the prestigious event.
 
In addition to her academic endeavors, Shoemaker plays percussion in the school’s marching and pep bands. She’s also run cross country throughout middle school and high school, helping the Indians to a seventh-place finish at the Class 3A state meet this season, and is getting ready for her final season of softball.
 
It’s been a lot on Shoemaker’s plate throughout her high school career, but she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
 
“You can’t do everything at one time, but you can do everything,” she said. “My parents have been a big influence, showing me the only way you’re truly going to be satisfied is if you’re satisfied with your effort for what you’ve done. There are steps to reaching a goal and I’m proud of myself every time I achieve something I’ve put my mind into doing. It pushes you to want to feel that again when you achieve a goal So I’ve pushed myself again and again and it’s a deal where you did, you achieved it and you can be proud of it 
 
“When I got to high school, I wanted to make good friends, but most importantly I wanted to be prepared for the world and what was next. I’m a planner and I think ahead to the point it’s maybe a fault. But I wanted to be prepared and I think I definitely am. All of my leadership positions have taught me so many world skills. All my sports taught me grit and confidence. All of my activities have shaped me to be prepared to go out into the world. I do think I’ve achieved what I wanted to get out of high school.”
 
Osage City has gotten so much from Shoemaker that neither Bellinger nor Stucky are prepared for life without her.
 
“I don’t like to think about that,” Stucky said. “It’s going to be different and really weird. I don’t know what it’s like without Ellie in this school. She is such a good leader for her classmates and really the whole school. She’s not outgoing in the way where she’s trying to ingratiate herself to her peers. She’s not trying to impress anybody though she certainly does. That’s just her doing her thing.
 
“She’s such a central figure to this school and community and is never afraid to take leadership and responsibility and be the face of something. She’s going to leave a void. We’ve got kids that will fill roles here and there, but filling a role is not the same as replacing somebody. You can’t replace an Ellie Shoemaker. She’s a one of a kind kid.”