Cool Kids : PF senior keeps busy with school, sports, church

POST FALLS – Shanna Hardy is an energetic and motivated young woman who fills her days with music, sports, academics and church. The 17-year-old Post Falls High School senior is the new president of the National Honor Society and ranks fifth in her class.

“Shanna is very self-motivated,” said her mom, Marietta. “She’s a dynamic girl,”

Shanna admits that she doesn’t know how she became involved in so much, but she finds herself with little spare time once she has given one 100 percent to all her activities.

“I don’t know how I get myself into these things,” she said with a chuckle.

But as busy as she is, there is not one activity she would want to give up.

For the last two years Shanna has been on the cross country team and although she says she does not excel at the sport, she enjoys it immensely.

“I always come in at the back of the pack, but I enjoy my team,” she said. “It’s a great group of kids and I love it.”

Her church,Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is an important part of her life. Shanna serves as president of the girls in her age group at the church.

“I have about three other girls who help me. We plan the Wednesday night activities and help make sure all the girls feel welcome,” Shanna said.

Shanna is a talented pianist, and in the Junior Miss competition last year she won the talent portion of the contest as well as the Be Your Best Self award, an award given to one who best exemplifies a commitment in areas such as academics, physical fitness, moral character and participation in community events.

“(Winning that award) was really neat,” said Shanna.

As the newly elected president of the National Honor Society for her school, Shanna said her goal is to get more people excited about the group and to continue to reach out to the community.

“I really want to get out there and do more community service projects,” she said.

Each National Honor Society participant is required to complete at least 20 hours of community service. But Shanna is not one to stop at the required minimum. As a member of the Key Club, she has performed 160 hours of service over the last two years – far above the 65 hours needed each year to earn a letter. Some of the projects she has been involved in include picking up trash, sponsoring less fortunate families at Christmastime, organizing and participating in food drives and doing yard work for members of the community.

Shanna’s grade-point average, weighted due to her honors level courses, is about 4.1. She hopes to attend Brigham Young University next year, where she will major in engineering and minor in music. She counts math among her favorite subjects, but because of her class load, could not take a math course this year.

Always looking for new opportunities to challenge herself, Shanna hopes to put on a solo piano concert next spring. She has played piano for about 10 years, and was first taught by her mom, who is a piano instructor.

“I am pretty classically trained,” said Shanna who added that she also enjoys playing pieces from the romantic period. Shanna also teaches piano to kids ranging in age from 7 to 10 years old.