CapFed® True Blue® Student of the Week: Ashland's Lily McPhail thrives as leader, role model for Blue Jays

1/12/2024 10:12:42 AM

By: Rick Peterson Jr., KSHSAA Covered

For somebody used to always being on the go, this past week has been agonizing for Ashland senior Lily McPhail.

McPhail, whose schedule is jam-packed with activities and responsibilities for the Blue Jays, was out sick for the first three days this week and getting stir-crazy at home. 

By Thursday, McPhail couldn’t take it anymore and returned to school, even though she wasn't quite at 100 percent. 
 
“This past week of sickness has driven me crazy,” McPhail said. “One of the bigger reasons I’m here at school (on Thursday) is I really do not like doing nothing, and that’s all I’ve been doing this past week, being at home under the weather. 

“I truly have a passion for being on my feet and being involved with peers and people around me.”

McPhail, the Capitol Federal® True Blue®  Student of the Week, has always been heavily active in her school and community. As a senior, she put an emphasis on becoming a leader for the Blue Jay students. 

“I never really saw myself in a leader position until just this past year,” McPhail said. “I really gravitated to an older group and they always led me, but now that this older group has graduated and I’m kind of top dog at the school, I feel like I’ve taken a kinship to a lot of my younger peers. 

“It’s been great to show others the way and understand that this is not only part of my learning journey but part of passing on my knowledge and my experience.”

McPhail is a three-sport athlete (basketball, volleyball and track and field). She’s is the school’s public relations officer for student council and is a member of the national honor society. She’s also participated in forensics. 

“(At a small school) it narrows the amount of people that have the ability to step up. There’s a necessity to have someone who’s not afraid to step up and act on something different, or get embarrassed just for the sake of rallying people together,” McPhail said. 

Ashland teacher Jeff Chambers said McPhail is held in high regard by her peers. 

“If they devolved up a Lily McPhail award, I would say that would be something that everybody would be honored to receive,” Chambers said. “It doesn’t matter if she’s on the court, if she’s on the track, she just does it at an amazing high-level pace. She’s a competitor not only on the court but in the classroom. 

“She’s one of those kids that come along once in a blue moon, and you know that she’s going to be successful wherever she goes, wherever she lands.”

Out of all her sports and activities, McPhail said she’s most passionate about basketball. After the girls play, she can be found leading the student section during the boys’ game. 

“I tell you I love basketball and that goes when I’m on the court and off the court,” McPhail said. “My fondest memories are going to be screaming in that student section. I’ve kind of been made the unofficial leader of the student section.

“We’ve had so much fun. Every single year I’ve enjoyed running the student section. That’s something I love more than anything. Screaming for one another is so great to do, especially alongside, not only your fellow high schoolers, but junior high kids and kids that are younger than you, kids that are in the fourth and fifth grade. We’re all cheering for the same thing, screaming, laughing, smiling.

To that point, Chambers said McPhail serves as a great role model for the grade school and junior high students in Ashland. 

“She has a big heart and a big personality, and that makes her somebody that kids look up to,” Chambers said. “Elementary kids love her. They call her by name, she calls them by name. 

“She’s always looking to do something for somebody else. She wants no credit, but she’s going to be the first to do something for somebody else.”

McPhail is still weighing college options but recently settled on a plan to pursue engineering. 

“For the longest time I had no idea what I wanted to do,” said McPhail, whose father, Dustin McPhail, owns a chiropractic clinic in Ashland. “Up until my freshman year, I was wanting to go into the arts field and go practice theater when I graduated. 

“From sophomore year all the way until this past summer I was completely lost, but I’ve always had a passion for mathematics and science. I didn’t realize how much I loved it until I got into the first semester of my senior year and I was filling up my schedule with three or four math classes and I’m enjoying it. I love that entire field. My dad recommended that idea to me to pursue engineering. When he brought up that idea, it was like a lightbulb.”

She said her dream would be to pursue a career involving aerospace. 

“It’s something I would love, but it does seem a little intimidating,” McPhail said. “My plan A is aerospace engineering. My plan B is just first start with a course in mechanical engineering and get a broad overview and see where it takes me.”

For now, McPhail will try to cherish every moment of her last semester of high school. 

“It really just hit me at the end of the last semester,” McPhail said. “I’m like, holy cow, I’ve got 18 weeks left in my senior year, 18 weeks left of high school. I think this is the point where I’m going to start soaking up the memories.”
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