Wichita County's Clara Koehn discovered her love for music at a young age and continued to explore that passion throughout high school. 

“When I was younger I would lead songs at church with my dad,” Koehn said. “My mom is our music teacher, so we just have music around us all the time, at home and at school.

“In fourth grade I made it to my first honor choir at the all-state level in Wichita, and it was an awesome experience.”

It led to a decorated high school career highlighted by numerous accolades in music. 

“It has been rewarding,” Koehn said of her success. “This year was the first year I got a 1 at state on my vocal solo. It was just so rewarding to see all the hard work I’ve put in the past four years pay off.”

Koehn was the recipient of the Capitol Federal True Blue Scholarship for vocal music and is the CapFed® True Blue® Student of the Week. 

She has embraced a leadership role at Wichita County with a jam-packed schedule full of sports and activities. 

In addition to vocal music, Koehn has participated in basketball, track and field, volleyball, cheerleading, band, scholars bowl and student council. She played the lead role of Elle Woods in the production of “Legally Blonde” in 2023.

“I like to be a leader in our school and that’s one of the best ways to do it, putting your name out there and being involved in everything,” Koehn said. “I’ve always kind of always been that way. Even in elementary school I’d run for student council and things like that.

“It’s definitely awesome that everybody in the school knows you’re somebody they can come to for help or just to talk to.”

Koehn has also done extensive volunteer work in her community, including working at her church nursery, coaching youth sports and tutoring elementary school students. 

Koehn’s top sport is volleyball. She was an all-league setter and went over 1,000 career assists this past season. 

“I’ll remember the big sports accomplishments and the fun trips that we took for activities,” Koehn said of her favorite high school memories. 

Koehn, a 4.0 student, is headed to Kansas State University to study elementary education. 

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher and I’m ready to go now,” Koehn said. “I want to take some music classes because at a lot of small western Kansas schools you have to incorporate music into your classroom, so that will be a big thing for me also.”

Koehn said she is soaking up her last few days of high school. 

“It’s hit me, this week especially, that it’s about over,” Koehn said.