Senior Graham Hoffman was chosen for the student spotlight for his involvement in the Battle community through his participation in clubs and his academic accomplishments, highlighted by getting accepted into the Air Force Academy in El Paso County, Colorado.
Graham is currently president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), the Spanish National Honors Society (SNHS), and the founder of Interact club. Graham is also the captain of the men’s golf team.
Interact Club is a youth partnership with the Metro Rotary. Its goal is to help students work on teen mental health first aid and how to address mental illnesses in themselves and those around them.
The club is currently in a transitional phase because it’s losing its founder and president Graham as well as Mr. Leuchtmann, the club sponsor, at the end of this year.
Graham and Interact are currently working on a peace pole that will go in the loop just outside of the student entrance. The pole will have a message of peace in eight different languages and serve as a memorial to all BHS students who have died due to gun violence.
Graham has been accepted into the Air Force Academy. It’s been his dream school for years, “I watched Top Gun and it inspired me to join the Air Force, and I want to serve my country.”
The Air Force Academy has a 12% admission rate with averages for academic accomplishments being very high with GPAs being 3.85, SATs of 1325, and ACTs of 31, according to the Air Force Academy website.
Being nominated is also very important for admission, without a good nomination it’s less likely to be accepted. Graham was nominated by Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and Blaine Luetkemeyer, U.S. representative for Missouri’s 3rd congressional district.
The Air Force Academy has many notable alumni including three-time NBA coach of the year Gregg Popovich, Heather Wilson the first graduate from the Academy to be elected to the United States Congress, and Richard T. Schlosberg, former publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times
Graham throughout his tenure on the golf team has made the All-Conference team twice and qualified for state once. He hopes that the team will continue to grow without him. Hoffman said, “It’s a small team. There’s only a few of us, and I hope it’ll keep growing after I’m gone.”
He hopes to make the push to qualify for the Air Force Academy golf team, so he can continue into college. Hoffman said, “If you want to do a sport and aren’t sure what to do, you join golf. It’s one of those sports that you can keep doing for all of your life and have fun doing it.”
