Mollie Talbot graduated from Olathe East over a decade ago back in 2005. During her time at East, Mollie was on the Cheerleading Team and was very close with her coach Keeley O’Grady. “Nobody can do the splits like him,” said Talbot. After graduating, Mollie worked as a social worker for 7 years, before finding her true calling in freelance writing. “I write about sobriety, mental health, motherhood, and blended families,” said Talbot. Mollie lived in Denver, Colorado for 8 years, and now currently resides in Brookside, Kansas City, with her husband and 3 sons, Brady, Banks, and Huxley. “You leave and life instantly changes,” Talbot said, “It’s not that the change is bad, it’ll just never be the same again.”

     Patrick Peters has been extraordinarily busy ever since graduating in 2020. With plans to become a music teacher and teach private voice and trumpet lessons, Peters has been working a full-time job in order to pay for college. “I’d also love to get a little money on the side performing, whether that be in a choir, stage performance, or ensemble,” Peters said. Peters also had a tremendous impact on the Olathe East performing arts department, being involved with choir, band, and theatre he played a big part in helping concerts and productions come together. “Olathe East performing arts were the best,” Peters said, “I met some lifelong friends, and most importantly the mentors in those programs have immensely helped in shaping who I am as a person.”

      After graduating from Olathe East in 2020, Julianna Maupin attended Pittsburgh State University In Kansas. After studying Psychology and Political science for 2 years, Maupin decided to take her future in a different route. “I decided to take a different path and take a break from school for a while,” said Maupin, “Right now I am a server but I would like to be an owner of a business eventually.” Julianna currently lives with her best friend and roommate Kylie, who is in attending college and plans to get a nursing degree. During her time at Olathe East, Maupin was a star member of Concordia. “I miss Hawk Hour because that’s when everyone would come together and laugh for an hour.”

     Briona Young graduated just last year in 2022 and is already working towards getting her degree in either business or psych through Kansas University. “I really want to go into human resources or insurance,” Young said. While Briona loves the friends she made, and misses some teachers from Olathe East, she is much more focused on her future and what amazing things life outside of high school has to offer. 

     2021 graduate Myles Benefield is currently a sophomore at Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. He is currently studying social strategy and management. “I’m planning on going into branding, fashion management, and advertising,” Benefield said. While attending Olathe East, Myles was heavily involved with track, orchestra, theatre, and design. “When attending East I was a part of the varsity track team all 4 years, the theatre department all 4 years, orchestra, and the design academy. While Myles is certainly missed by the many teachers who had him in class and the many programs he excelled in, Olathe East is excited to see where else he will succeed.