She may just be a sophomore, but Gabby Livchak is already busy and taking on leadership positions at Lima Senior High School and beyond.
She shrugs it off as no big deal, saying being involved and active is all she has ever known.
“My family, we are always busy people,” the daughter of Rob and Amy Livchak said. “Lying-around time is boring. I am used to go, go, go. It is just our normal thing.”
Gabby is president of the school’s Key Club, where she has plenty of things, largely community service projects, on her plate this year.
The club, which is affiliated with the Lima Kiwanis Club, will continue a tradition started last year of doing an all-day Dance Marathon for the Children’s Miracle Network. The club is selling items now to raise money to send members to a retreat to help plan this year’s event. They are also collecting pop tabs for charity.
Gabby’s latest endeavor is with Activate Allen County. She attended its youth summit last month and is now working with classmates Moriah Henry, Precious Reynolds, Pearl Reynolds and Lauryn Ford on a project.
The project involves getting student athletes to eat healthy snacks between school and practices. Gabby and the others plan to eventually survey students on the topic and maybe partner with others to make healthy snacks available.
Gabby is also a student athlete. She is a member of Lima Senior’s volleyball and swim teams. She is also in Allen Lima Youth Leadership this year.
Outside of school, Gabby is treasurer of the Junior Fair Board. In the position, she plans activities for the Allen County Fair and helps to run the animal shows. She has been in 4-H since the fourth grade. She is a member of the Lima Lucky Clovers, which focuses on cooking.
“Since we live in the city, this was something we could do,” said Gabby, who started making bread last year and will continue the project this year. “My mom was involved in 4-H when she was young, so she got us involved.”
Gabby is also a 4-H camp counselor and is thinking of getting a job as a lifeguard at the YMCA.
She does all this while maintaining a 3.9 grade-point average at Lima Senior.
“I try not to stress about it too much,” she said of managing her time. “I plan ahead and focus so there is not too much stress on one thing.”
With her older sister, Quincy, a freshman at Malone University, Gabby thinks she might want to join her there. She is interested in becoming an athletic trainer, but continues to keep her options open.