Genayla Warnken isn’t all that different from her peers in that she absolutely loves the holidays.
 
It doesn’t matter the time of year, either. July 4, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas – they all feed right into the Riley County senior’s soul.
 
But it’s this time of the year – the stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas – that has a special place in Warnken’s heart. The period has long been deemed the season of giving and anyone that knows Warnken knows that giving and the service behind it is one of Warnken’s biggest passions in her life, and what perhaps differentiates her just a bit from her peers. 
 
“I feel like (service) really is heart fulfilling,” said Warnken, a senior at Riley County. “Presents can only do so much. I do think that giving gifts to other people in the way they need it just fulfills my heart more than receiving a gift.”
 
Warnken is this week’s CapFed® True Blue® Student of the Week.
 
Warnken’s passion for service comes to her naturally. She credits both of her parents, Troy and Genaire Warnken, for instilling that value in her when she was young and it’s reflected in their lives as well.
 
Troy is the president of the Black Jack Saddle Club, which operates out of Manhattan and provides a family-friendly environment for horse enthusiasts of all skill levels and ages to show horses. A big emphasis of the club is “placed on inclusion, confidence, building, mentoring, volunteering and personal growth.”
 
Genaire, meanwhile, fulfills multiple roles at the family’s church, Alert Convenant Church in Leonardville.
 
“I feel like my parents have really guided me to live that lifestyle,” Warnken said. “If something is going on, I feel like I should help or be a part of it, especially if it will benefit others or myself in learning new experiences.”
 

 
Moving to Riley County from Hays when she was in the fourth grade, Warnken almost immediately found herself drawn toward her first service club thanks to a little prodding from new classmates Madison Hammond and Katelyn Allison.
 
“One day at recess they came up to me and said, ‘Hey, do you like horses?’” Warnken recalled. “I said, ‘I do, I have a horse of my own.’ And we’ve been best friends ever since.
 
“They were in 4-H at the time and were like, ‘You should come check this out some time,’ so I automatically gave it a shot and I was hooked right away and have been ever since.”
 
Since joining 4-H in 2017, Warnken has cherished her experiences, including the Citizen Washington Focus trip to Washington D.C. with around 50 other students from Pottawatomie, Riley and Wabaunsee counties – a program designed to empower teens in 4-H with leadership and communication skills through hands-on learning. The eight-day trip enabled students to explore the nation’s capital, visiting iconic landmarks, and engage in meaningful discussions about history, democracy, and constitutional amendments.
 
The intention is to instill the skills to become agents of change and leadership in their respective communities.
 
“That has broadened my range of how much I can learn and have learned from 4-H,” Warnken said. “I think that those connections are one of the biggest things I love about it. I think 4-H has really pushed me outside of my comfort zone and has allowed me some awesome opportunities and different experiences.”
 
Her involvement in 4-H naturally led Warnken to become a member of Riley County’s Future Farmers of America club where she eventually became president. It also gravitated her toward Key Club, the high school branch of Kiwanis, a global service organization that is dedicated toward improving the world “one child and one community at a time.”
 
“I really didn’t know about Key Club until freshman year of high school when I got my feet wet,” Warnken said. “I only went to some of the events But my junior year, we attended the district convention and that’s when it really struck me that this club was what I really wanted to be a part of and serve. I really do align with the Key Club values and motives.”
 

 
Riley County has one of the biggest Key Clubs in Kansas and is a club that sponsor Sam Netterman calls “her whole heart.”
 
Now in her fifth year teaching English at Riley County, Netterman had particularly strong ties to last year’s senior class, her first freshman class at the school, particularly in Key Club activities. And she admitted, “When they graduated, I was nervous. Who’s going to be the next group that’s with me all the time and I can depend on?”
 
But after seeing Warnken begin to emerge as a leader during her junior year, those anxieties were eased. And if she had any doubts, last year’s district convention in Great Bend confirmed the club would be in good hands.
 
“Last year was the first time we had taken any kids to our district convention and we’re still learning about it and didn’t know all the things we could compete in,” Netterman said. “We found out when we got there any of our kids could sign up to do the oration contest and then the speech was about service and leadership and what does it mean to be in Key Club and how does Key Club affect your life. Genayla wrote out the speech on the spot, knew what she wanted to say and then presented it and took first place. She’s so good at knowing at how to form her words and hold herself in a professional setting. It was awesome to see her up there and be so confident.”
 
That carried over to her election as the president of the club this year. In the past, the election had been a simple student vote for the position. But Netterman desired something different and replaced that process with one in which previous Key Club presidents and members of the local Kiwanis club interviewed candidates for the presidency.
 
“She knocked her interview out of the park,” Netterman said. “There was no question that she was the choice to be our president. … It’s been seamless because she’s been able to be that person, transitioning from one group of officers to this group has felt easy because they’ve made it easy.”
 
Netterman said the Key Club does roughly one-to-two events per month and last year clocked more than 60 hours of service just within the school community. 
 
Around Halloween, the Key Club participated in the Trunk or Treat in downtown Riley and had around 10 cars of kids handing out candy. She also was a scare actor for the NHS’ Haunted Hallway, which allowed grade school kids to come to school and participate in a variety of activities.
 
At Thanksgiving, the club sold Thankfulness Grams, little notes of appreciation for faculty and staff members across the district. Selling for $2 each, the club sold $450 worth and has been widely appreciated.
 
Leading up to Christmas, the club participated in Operation Deck the Halls, a contest to decorate the school for Christmas, as well as ventured into the grade school to decorate cookies with the kindergarten classes.
 

 
In addition, they did an Adopt-a-Family, picking a family of need in the community and shopping for the children.
 
“She coordinated the whole thing,” Netterman said. “We do tie a lot of our things to the busy seasons. We try to think about what our community needs. If there’s a way we can give back to our teachers, our parents, our community members, we try to fill the needs that we see happening and she’s at the forefront of all of it.
 
“She’s always had an innate drive to want to lead people. She carries herself well and has a strong voice. I think she’s always been really strong in knowing how to lead a group of people and what needs to be done when you are a leader. She’s always had those abilities within her.”
 
In addition to her efforts with Key Club, Warnken has taken on other projects with National Honor Society. Her individualized service project this year was Lasagna Love, a national program in which someone can volunteer to make lasagna meals for families in the community in need.
 
Warnken found families in the Riley County area to fill out the application and wound up getting assigned 10 different families to make meals for, delivering them in early December.
 
“It was just an amazing feeling,” Warnken said. “If someone is needing help, I will be someone who will go help. 4-H, Key Club and NHS have given me the eyes that if service is needed, I am capable and I should be willing do it.”
 
Warnken played volleyball for one year and has been on the dance team all four years of high school. The latter has been an activity she’s truly enjoyed as kind of a release, something she can kind of just do for herself.
 
Warnken also is a member of Riley County’s Future Business Leaders of America club and last year participated in Forensics for the first time, competing in Impromptu Duet Acting with Allison.
 
“It was something that was completely new and kind of out of our comfort zone,” Warnken said.
 
Her comfort zone has been her participation in her service clubs, though as she’s leaned more into Key Club and NHS, where she’s the secretary, she’s pulled out of FFA.
 
But regardless of whether it’s an event one of her clubs is involved with or not, Riley County principal Dr. Charles Kipp said he knows if something needs accomplished, chances are Warnken will be involved.
 
“She’s very outgoing and likes to come up with new ideas to help out the school or to be a part of something or to get students and friends to be involved,” Kipp said. “She can spread herself pretty thin, but she’s always there to participate and lead. Even if it’s not something that she directly worked with, she’s here for a lot of events and opportunities within our school.
 
“She’s very visible. She’s here a lot and works pretty much whenever she can at the school. It definitely bolsters the faculty, staff and administration to have somebody that does the things she does. A lot of time as adults, we think we have to motivate and do a lot of work to get things done. When we can delegate those things to students it serves two purposes. It helps them build an understanding of what it takes to get things done. But it also gives them connection to the students, to the community, to the school as well as to the adults because it builds those relationships and we can rely on them rather than having to structure everything for them.”
 
If it seems like Warnken is always at the school, Netterman said she feels that way, adding, “I feel like she’s in my room 24/7 and is always coming up with ideas or reminding of what’s coming up or trying to sign us up to do something else. It’s so great because obviously as a teacher I have so much on my plate, but she is a person who keeps me on track when I need to be. I guarantee when there’s an event or activity that comes up, she is the first one to sign up and be there.”
 
Just as Netterman sees a lot of herself in Warnken, Warnken also credits Netterman with fostering an environment that’s helped her evolve into a better leader and person.
 
“She’s so heart-willing,” Warnken said. “She’ll put her best forward on any tasks that we have the idea of or want to fulfill. She’s so supportive of us. She has widened my view of how much service that there is to be done and how much I can do. She’s helped me grow as a person and I’m more willing to talk to people and communicate with others more effectively than I’ve been able to.”
 
Not that talking to anyone – young students, peers or adults – has ever been something Warnken has been uncomfortable doing.
 
“I feel I’m more comfortable in that realm than most people my age,” she said. “One day it just clicked and I was like, ‘Genayla, you can speak to whoever you want about whatever you want and you will be OK.’ It does not matter who I’m speaking to, I’m totally comfortable.
 
“I definitely think communication is one of the biggest things that we as humans start to fail on. It’s where a lot of quarrels happen and people get upset because we don’t understand where the other person is coming from. Being able to talk to different people helps establish clearer guidelines and allows people to understand what is being asked of them or to go forward with.”
 

 
Just as Warnken has learned from those who have gone before her, so too is she leading the way for the next wave of students who will take on leadership roles at Riley County. That includes her younger sister, Trista, who is a sophomore at Riley County and is involved in many of the same activities and clubs that Genayla is.
 
“I’ve definitely had the chance to see her grow in everything that we’ve been doing together,” Warnken said. “Having her by my side for that has been awesome. It shows me there’s two of us and we can do hard things.”
 
“I see that sophomore group, specifically her sister, not necessarily follow her, but look up to her and that’s kind of cool,” Netterman said. “They always seem to be together. Even when Genayla graduates, she’ll leave this impact on the groups below her.”
 
Kipp sees it as well.
 
“Grooming other students or showing those capacities can be there for other students, giving them an opportunity to see that, ‘Oh I can do that too. I can lead or come up with ideas.’ That builds the whole strength of the student body as well,” he said. “It seems like we get a new crop of leaders coming in every year and if you have a strong group come through, there’s a certain degree of tradition or honor that other students want to do as well. It’s competition. We want to do better than the class before us. 
 
“She was probably taught by students we had in the past that were good leaders and when you have that, it becomes a juggernaut. Once you get that momentum going, it helps the school for not just the four years they are there, but cascades down to the next class and the next class. At Riley County a ton of our kids are involved in a lot of different things. … But at the same time, she’s on a different level. She’s very involved with leadership in all of those areas she’s working with. She a great person to have and to look up to on how to serve your school and community.”
 
Warnken is undecided what her future beyond high school holds, but plans to stay active with Kiwanis’ collegiate branch, Circle K, if she can and then join Kiwanis post-college. That’s something Netterman wishes for Warnken as well.
 
“When you are drawn to service and enjoy giving back to your community, it doesn’t feel like work,” she said. “It just feels like what you’re meant to do. We never feel that stressed because we just doing what we want to do and are propelled to go that direction and are called to do it. And that’s Genayla for sure. She’s the embodiment of that.”
 
As far as what legacy she’s left at Riley County, her main intent would be for future students to have a voice.
 
“One lasting impression that I hope to leave is it’s OK to speak up and have a voice,” she said. “Whether it’s something you’re not comfortable with or want to see changed, it’s important to voice it. Our administration has shown they’re willing to listen to you and hear what you have to see and even if the thing you want changed doesn’t get changed, it’s important to speak up and say how you feel.
 
“It’s going outside your comfort zone or trying something new or doing something you wouldn’t normally do. Just get the most out of it, more than what you think you would or could.”