Senior Spotlight: La Follette’s Jasper Hengst Makes Room at the Table for Everyone

When the Chromebooks are away, playlists are queued and a destination set, lunchtime at La Follette High School is more than just a meal–it’s the ultimate combo of food, friends and free time. And for senior Jasper Hengst, lunch turns into a mini mission: ensuring everyone gets a seat at the table. 

“At some point everyone feels like they're on the outside, regardless of what the reason might be,” Hengst said. “I just want to make people feel confident about themselves.”

Before long, Hengst created a new tradition of taking a fellow student out to lunch. After inviting a classmate, he coordinates any needed approval from the student’s family to drive them to a restaurant selected by fate–a digital wheel that spins around a list of local establishments. 

During one lunch, Hengst and his fellow classmate Elius made a TikTok video about their outing: clips of conversations, energetic entrances into the restaurants, and most importantly, ratings of their meal at Wendy’s, stitched together over music. 

Before long, the video racked up more than 100,000 views, with hundreds of positive comments and direct messages offering to fund future lunches, and encouraging others to start similar traditions. 

Hengst’s impact at La Follette doesn’t stop when the lunch period ends. His leadership extends onto the diamond as captain of the varsity baseball team, on the court at MSCR basketball games, on the greens playing with the golf team, and as a senior mentor for freshmen. 

“​​I feel like everyone's purpose in the world should be to help others, or to just be caring in some way,” Hengst said. “For me, all these activities are a fun way to meet other students in such a big school.”

This fall, he plans to attend Madison College, and eventually UW-Madison, as part of the Economics and Business University Transfer program. With that training and education, Hengst wants to own a business and pursue a career in property management and ownership, inspired by his mom who owns her own company.

Hengst is quick to uplift the staff that have supported him during his time in MMSD, including La Follette multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) teacher Mackenzie Craugh. 

“Simply put, she's a great person. Ever since my freshman year, she helped me so much,” Hengst said. “I'm so grateful for how she’s helped shape me to be who I am. It's inspiring how much of a positive impact she has had on me.”

As graduation nears, Hengst isn’t focused on recognition, but connection. Whether it’s walking a freshman through their first day or making others feel included at lunch, his legacy is in the small, intentional moments that made a big school feel a little more like home.