Born: Hanford, Calif.

Family: Husband, Gator; sons, Conner, 9, and Sawyer, 5

Occupation: Human resources clerk for Tonganoxie USD 464

Dream job as a child: Social worker or attorney

Interesting fact: Vestal spent four years volunteering during the summers as a camp counselor for the now-closed Camp Adventure!, a camp for adults with physical disabilities. During her time there, she moved from camp counselor to senior staff and eventually became publisher for the camp yearbook.

Digging Deeper: Vestal lived in Hanford, Calif., until the early 1990s when her family bounced between Kansas and California for a couple of years. Her father grew up in Piper and always knew that he wanted to raise his family nearby. In 1997, the family moved back to Tonganoxie where Vestal has lived ever since.

After graduating from Tonganoxie High School in 2004, she attended Kansas City Kansas Community College for two years majoring in pre-law. She met her husband, Gator, while in college. On Sept. 30, 2006, they were married.

“Shortly after, I chose to leave school to begin our family,” Vestal said.

She was a stay-at-home mother for eight years while also working seasonally as a manager for Halloween Express. Once her children both reached school age, she decided to go back to work full-time and focus on building a career. She started working for Tonganoxie USD 464 in December 2014.

“I love working in the school district and being part of such an amazing community of intelligent, talented, funny and compassionate people,” she said.

Vestal and her husband enjoy raising their children in Tonganoxie. Their children have had some of the same teachers Gator and Meagan had in school. She also enjoys taking her children to the library where she volunteered as a youth.

“You don’t get to have those meaningful connections throughout the generations when you live in a bigger city,” she said.

Vestal spends her spare time reading, camping, baking, doing home improvement projects and being with family.