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Basehor student cleans vehicles for athletic expenses

Basehor-Linwood High School junior Caden Puderbaugh found a unique niche to help make money to help pay for his baseball expenses as well as some summer pocket money for personal spending. After advertising on Facebook, he received several responses from local citizens who were eager to get their cars thoroughly cleaned from top to bottom.Caden begins the cleaning process by pulling out floor mats to scrub and polish, followed by vacuuming the inside and cleaning the seats. The outside of the car is then cleaned and polished as well.Basehor resident Rodney White is one of Caden’s customers and was glad to have his car detailed. He saw how hard Caden worked to get his car looking great.“I highly recommend if you are looking to get your car detailed that you reach out to him. My car was a mess with three kids and being always on the go, it was destroyed. It looks fantastic now and I’m giving him a five-star rating,” White said.Prices range from $60 to $80, depending on the size of the car, and can take Caden 90 minutes for a thorough inside cleaning to three hours for a large truck or SUV being cleaned inside and out.Starting his detailing service around the time school let out for the summer, Caden has a keen eye to ensure his customers are happy with his finished product and is enjoying having some extra money. Just as importantly, he enjoys seeing the reaction of his customers when he finishes the job.“I think it is fun to see how good a car can look when it is cleaned right,” said Caden.At Basehor-Linwood High School, Caden is equally devoted to both baseball and wrestling. For the past two years, he has played varsity baseball and made the UKC All-Conference Honorable Mention Team. He also plays summer club baseball on his team Competitive Edge. In wrestling, Caden also has made the varsity team for two years and is a two-time state qualifier. Outside of sports, Caden is a member of the BLHS National Honor Society, and has received the U.S. Marine Corps High School All-American Award. He also volunteers with youth baseball and wrestling camps and participates in Westside Family Church Student Ministries.Local residents who are interested in having Caden detail their car should contact him via text message at 913-343-6029 and include the make and model of the vehicle and location.

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Students learn about government on trip to D.C.

A group of Leavenworth County 4-H students, including several from the Basehor-Linwood school district, attended an event in Washington, D.C. last month. The seven-day event, Citizenship Washington Focus, is designed to help teens learn leadership and communication skills through history, democracy and constitutional amendments. The program is rooted in a long legacy, but reimagined for today’s world to allow students to see how government operates and how it uses resources.Students had the opportunity to connect with more than 500 students from 15 states to hear from promising speakers and influential leaders. Meaningful discussions took place as the teens had the opportunity to learn skills that are needed to become leaders in their local communities and become change agents to help create a bright future. Workshop classes included media literacy, the first amendment and American history and democracy. Students were placed in workshop groups and were led by an adult program assistant. Attendees also went on tours of various monuments, the U.S. Capitol and Smithsonian museums. Sonya Murphy served as the lead chaperone for the trip.“The nine youth who attended from Leavenworth County spent two years preparing for this trip. Besides fundraising, they learned communication skills, the importance of civic engagement and about local and state government as they prepared for their trip,” said Murphy.Murphy also noted that the trip was filled with memorable moments for herself as well as the students. For some attendees, it was the first time they had flown on a plane and others had never been on a subway. She said it was amazing to see youth from different backgrounds coming together to grow in their knowledge of the nation’s history as well as their own leadership skills and civic engagement. Murphy said it was a joy to see the confidence the students achieved to realize that they can have an impact on the country and the world.Oliver Douthit was one of the Basehor-Linwood High School students who attended Citizenship Washington Focus. He said he learned the importance of government. “I wanted to attend this event to learn about civics, explore Washington, D.C., and network with my peers from around the country. The highlight of the trip for me was making friends with people from all across the country,” said Douthit.Event attendees from Leavenworth County included Oliver Douthit, Gavin Shupe, Madelyn Lueck, Mary Habjan, Jadyn Bollin, Peyton Blizzard, Brookelin Pierce-Connel, Virginia Parsons and Sarai Parsons. Adult chaperones were Sonya Murphy, Stephanie Shupe and Tyler Sale.

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