Lee Van Cleave is a junior who resides at Fair Grove High, and is involved in a multitude of different extracurriculars, while still being a dutiful student.
Michael Van Cleave, Lee Van Cleave’s father and Fair Grove Math Teacher stated, “Academically, Lee has earned straight A’s throughout high school, while also taking challenging classes like Anatomy and Pre-Calculus.”
Van Cleave has been super involved with school related activities. He has also been involved with activities not within the school. Van Cleave stated, “I am in our school’s concert band, jazz band, pep band, and cross country team. Outside of our school I made it into the South Central Missouri Music Education Association district honor band for our district.”
Van Cleave has favorite moments of all of his involvements. He stated that his favorite part about each band he is in, is that he gets to enjoy playing the music that he is given. He also enjoys becoming a better musician overall.
Van Cleave was an important part of the cross country team. He stated that he was the tenth runner on the Fair Grove cross country team for the state competition in 2024.
Van Cleave has also made advancements in his music side of school. His father entailed, “In band he has made the All-District band 3 years in a row, and qualified for All-State this year.”
There have been many people that have helped Van Cleave achieve his high school successes. He stated, “Many people have helped me to become what I am today. The first person to come to mind is my brother, as well as my parents, and then after that my close friends. They have all helped me by supporting me when I needed it.”
Micheal stated that his son is a hard worker. He acknowledges that Van Cleave spends countless hours at home practicing his trombone, doing his homework, and studying. He continued that he believes that is why his son excels in school.
Micheal continued that Van Cleave is proactive in working hard to make sure that he excels in school. He said that he does not need to encourage Van Cleave to be a hard worker, he just takes the initiative and does it.
Van Cleave has been exceeding people’s expectations for him. Micheal stated, “My expectation for Lee is to work hard and try his best, and he has definitely met and exceeded those. He is an awesome kid and I could not be more proud of him!”
