Cool kids: High school senior teaching, helping others
Josh Seagrave is down in the trenches, digging them and carving out a path for his future.
“It’s all about the preciousness of others and doing what’s right,” he said. He digs for others as well as paints houses, clears trees, roofs, installs sprinkler systems, builds places of worship and spreads the word of God.
Seagrave, 16, is a senior at Central Valley High School. Currently in Running Start, he is getting some undergraduate studies out of the way before he graduates from high school. Before his sophomore year he was home-schooled. “I wanted to try the high school thing, you know, the ‘high school years.’ ” He also wanted to take advantage of the things that an educational institution has to offer, such as scholarships.
Science teacher Krista Larsen suggested Seagrave for this feature, referring to him as a great addition to the school while mentioning his involvement in community service here and away.
His work includes repainting street lines in Lapwai, Idaho, landscaping in St. Maries, digging a septic tank line, painting and adding a bathroom to a church in Tecate, Mexico, and working on an area campground.
Most recently, he traveled to Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he worked at a Bible camp and an English camp where he taught junior high students English. “I had never studied their language but I learned a lot of Slovene. It was challenging because I’m not a teacher,” he said
He is a teacher of sorts, teaching by example. “It’s important to do what’s right and to be a benefit to others,” he said. He is considering joining the Marines and then becoming a mechanical engineer. “I want to design innovative products that help solve community problems.”
Seagrave spends his free time bike riding, playing paintball and composing music. He regards his parents as good role models and takes his role as a brother seriously. He urges others to take responsibility for their actions, to ask questions, confident and have a good attitude. “Never say ‘I can’t do it’ because you can.”
Wherever the future takes him, Seagrave will continue to dig paths for himself and others.