Freeman senior Chadduck took every chance he could to be involved through high school

Ben Chadduck, a senior at Freeman High School, does it all and loves it all, even though his four years have been anything but normal.

“He’s truly a Scottie, he gets involved in just about anything he possibly can,” said Scott Moore, Freeman’s business education teacher and Future Business Leaders of America adviser. “And it’s not just for himself, it’s for everyone around him. He does whatever he can to help this school and to help others feel welcome here.”

Chadduck’s list of involvement seems to be never-ending, and he likes it that way. He’s a four-year member of FBLA, which has included serving as the vice president and competing at nationals last year. He is the president of the conservation club, involved in his leadership class, and a barista at the school’s coffee stand, the Dawghouse. He’s on the Joya student board and helps with things like the blood drive and homecoming. He has played lacrosse and tennis and ran cross country, is about to become an Eagle Scout and is an artist.

“When I got into high school I signed up for everything I could get my hands on – FBLA, conservation club – I got into National Honors Society and National Art Honors Society,” Chadduck said. “I’ve always wanted to be a business leader, that’s what I’m going to school for at WSU, for business, so it was right on track for me.”

He has gone to state every year and went to the FBLA nationals last year in job interview. He said he worked more than 20 hours with Moore to make his resume perfect for the competition. The effort paid off. He placed sixth in interview at the regional state qualifier and didn’t skip a beat when the state competition moved online, due to COVID-19 protocols, and qualified for nationals.

This work ethic is also evident in his art: He’s been working on a sculpture of his own head for a few months now.

“I’ve had lots of fun, and I love it,” Chadduck said. “I’ve been working on it for way too long, probably two or three months. I spent three weeks working on the hair alone because I had to carve every single hair. It’s awesome to be able to go up and sit down for an hour and just forget about everything else and all the classes and just use my hands and actually get something done and see it in front of my face.”

Chadduck said his biggest accomplishment is earning Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts; which he has been in scouts since first grade. He is the president of a conservation club, which, he said, is like “Boy Scouts without the badges.”

Both Moore and he Chadduck himself noted his growth in confidence and self-assuredness over the past four years. At the beginning of his high school experience the shooting at Freeman happened, and then COVID-19 impacted his junior and senior years, but he hasn’t let that stop him.

“I think probably the two big things that messed up my high school experience, the shooting, obviously, and COVID,” Chadduck said. “It separates you from people and it’s that elephant in the room 24/7. Whenever I meet someone new and I tell them I’m from Freeman I get those strange pity looks. At first it made me mad, and I didn’t want them to think about me. But now I’ve learned to accept it and overcome it, and now it’s something that happened in my life, I can’t go back and change it so I just have to learn how to live with that, and I think that’s what I’ve been able to do.”

Despite these challenges Chadduck has worked to make the most of his high school experience by serving his community and getting involved in any way he could.

After graduation Chadduck plans to attend Washington State University where he will study business with hopes of concentrating in international business because of his love of traveling and history.

“He’s a great example,” Moore said. “He shows how important it is to get involved in school and extracurricular activities and I think he wants people to be as happy here at school as he is.”