By Brayden Dirks
This week for the senior spotlight we will be showcasing Ellie Hilbrands. Ellie lives in Remsen with her parents: Dean and Becky Hilbrands; and she has two brothers, Tanner and Trent. Next year, Ellie plans on attending the University of South Dakota to major in elementary education.
Ellie has been involved in many activities throughout high school including volleyball, basketball, NHS, Student Council, Band, Royals Impact Leadership, MMCRU Foundation, MMCRU Marketing Team, madrigal, speech, and Youth Group. Ellie has received All-Conference honors in volleyball and basketball, and received All-State honors in basketball. Her junior year, she was All-District in basketball. She was Academic All-Conference and Top 5 Academically in her class every year. She has been on the Principal’s Honor Roll and the High Honor Roll every year. She says her favorite year of high school was sophomore year because it was cut short due to COVID, and she enjoyed distance learning. Ellie says her greatest accomplishment was going to state basketball her junior year. Her favorite memory from high school was state basketball week and playing in Wells Fargo Arena.
Outside of school, Ellie enjoys spending time with family, baking, and babysitting. As for a job, she is a nanny five days a week during the summer. She also babysits during weekends during the school year. Her pet peeve is when people don’t say thank you and her favorite school lunch is taco soup. Ellie’s favorite song is “I’m Ready” by AJR, and her favorite movie is The Longest Ride.
Ellie’s advice to underclassmen is to do the right thing even when no one is watching. She wants to be remembered as kind person who is friendly with everyone. Her idea of an accomplished life is to have a job that provides with opportunities to be successful.