Senior Kirsten Tjelmeland at Vandegrift High School is the Leander ISD Career and Technical Education Student of the Week.
According to Agricultural Sciences Teacher and FFA advisor Magan Escamilla, Kirsten is an asset to the veterinary sciences pathway at Vandegrift. She is a student that craves learning new information and skills both inside and outside of the classroom.
Kirsten is enrolled in the Practicum of Veterinary Sciences at VHS, where students have work based learning experiences at a local veterinary clinic while they pursue their TVMA CVA Level One certification. Her clinic always has amazing performance reviews, including that she puts her name on the learning board to learn new skills, answers the clinic phones with confidence, is self-motivated, wise and mature beyond her years.
Kirsten is also a member of the Veterinary Sciences CDE team with the Vandegrift FFA chapter. The team has had a lot of success over the last year and Kirsten is a strong comeptitor. They qualified for the state contest last spring, where the team placed 3rd overall. Kirsten earned first placed overall individually at the state contest.
“On our way home from state contest last May after Kirsten won, she commented, ‘A perfect score is attainable – I mean you know all the things that could possibly be in the contest,'” Escamilla said. “I remember thinking, wow, here’s a student that won first and is still chasing perfection. It’s amazing to have students that are literally the best but are humble enough to realize that there’s still a small margin left for improvement.
In December, Kirsten also competed in a scholarship CDE contest and won first place which secured a $3,000 scholarship.
