Note: Graphic photo courtesy Leah Kurz, The Cardinal Times Online

CONWAY SPRINGS – Discovering you’re pretty good at something can take years of training or, in Konner Bidwell’s case, literally acting on a whim.
 
Such was the case a couple winters ago when Bidwell, now a Conway Springs senior, auditioned for the high school’s spring play, “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon.” Playing the devil in one of his roles, the fun-loving Bidwell enjoyed putting his sinister twist on the character.
 
“I wish I’d started earlier because I had so much fun doing it,” said Bidwell, the Capitol Federal® True Blue® Student of the Week. “I kind of did it as a joke sophomore year. I never really thought I belonged with that group until I did.”
 
Bidwell has made a habit of sticking his toe in unfamiliar waters, and it has transformed his high school experience. He also went out for football for the first time as a sophomore, and developed into a key contributor on the defensive line as the Cardinals won Class 1A state championships in 2023 and 2024.

 
Off the field, Bidwell is in his second year as a drama department representative on the Conway Springs student council, and talks about recruiting non-acting friends to try out for the school’s spring play.
 
“Konner is a natural leader inside and outside of the classroom,” said Sierra Ardanche, a Conway Springs teacher who has instructed Bidwell in English, oral communications, forensics and debate classes. “He has a way of rallying up the troops whenever there is a challenge that needs to be addressed. I always appreciate his determination to meet his goals.
 
“Once Konner sets his mind on something, there is nothing stopping him from achieving it.”
 
Bidwell’s most recent acting foray came last month in Conway Springs’ fall play. And once again, it featured Bidwell playing the villain.
 
He drew the role of Ray Beeze, a deceitful animal doctor in “The Vile Veterinarian.” The pun-filled melodrama featured other characters like Beeze’s assistant, Kitty Litter, banker Mort Gudge, and pet store owners Polly Purina and Kay Nein.
 
“I dug that,” Bidwell said. “I thought it was so fun. I’ve always had issues with memorization and I had to lock in with this play. There was like 130 lines, 140 lines. But I had fun because it’s so good being bad.”
 
Bidwell credits his penchant for performing to his father, Michael.
 
“He doesn’t have a drama background, but he’s just so outgoing and it rubbed off on me a lot. Everybody says, ‘You act just like your dad.’ I hear it all the time. His personality and character and mine are a lot the same.”
 
Bidwell plays the tuba in Conway Springs’ band and is a member of the Cardinalaires, a vocal music group that rehearses three days a week before school. The group performs at league, regional and state music festivals, and at community events like the Conway Springs Business and Professional Women’s annual holiday concert, which was held earlier this month.
 
Bidwell gave a solo performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” at the concert.
 
Those moments are helping shape Bidwell’s future. At Ardanche’s urging, Bidwell pursued and was awarded a theater scholarship to Butler Community College, which he plans to attend next fall to begin criminal justice studies.
 
“Part of the reason I’m going to Butler is because of her,” Bidwell said. “I’d never really given a lot of thought about going to college. I was just going to look at trade schools and then she said, ‘Why don’t you try theater or choir in college?’ I got that scholarship and she really helped out a lot with that.”
 
Until then, Bidwell is focusing on leaving a positive legacy at Conway Springs.
 
He began participating in scholars bowl last year, and after starting forensics last year, he joined the debate team this fall. On weekends, he works as a dietary aide at Springview Manor, a healthcare and rehab center in Conway Springs.
 
“In debate, he has noticed specific strengths other students have and makes a note to build them up by making sure they know what their strengths are,” Ardanche said. “In the classroom, he is a positive student who often finds ways to make his teachers and his classmates laugh.
 
“The underclassmen look up to his confidence and his willingness to always be himself.”
 
Bidwell doesn’t take that role lightly.
 
“When we were freshmen, we all had a senior we looked up to,” he said. “When you’ve got that role model, it really helps you steer toward that right path. You’re like, ‘I want to be like that guy. I want to do what he did.’ As long as it’s a good role model, it ends up working out.”
 
Bidwell’s stuco involvement has helped him hone his leadership skills, he said. He focuses on the teamwork aspect of the organization, and has come to understand the importance of widespread input and feedback on stuco activities.
 
It’s also helped him form a fundamental approach to high school.
 
“Be nice to your classmates,” Bidwell said. “I know that sounds cheesy and a little cliché, but honestly school is kind of what you make it. School can suck, school can not be fun, but it’s only that way if you kind of make it that way.
 
“If you join the stuff you’re into, if you hang out with the right people, if you’re nice to people and people are nice to you, you’re going to want to come to school every day. And that’s kind of the environment I hope we can keep going at Conway Springs.”