Author: Anslee Wolfe

This is the last of 20 profiles about The Gazette’s Best and Brightest Class of 2014. At 10 years old, Morgan Smith ate some fish that could have killed him. Smith was diagnosed at 18 months with life-threatening food allergies to shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts (pine nuts, almonds, pecans and cashews) and sesame seeds. But…

This is the eighteenth of 20 profiles about The Gazette’s Best and Brightest Class of 2014. At first, Julia Stadeker was ecstatic about scoring a job interview at McDonald’s last spring. “After the call, however, I was surprised to find my delight transform into bewilderment and regret,” she said. “Why wasn’t I celebrating? I received…

This is the seventeenth of 20 profiles about The Gazette’s Best and Brightest Class of 2014. Because her father has been in prison since she was a toddler, Daiszha Cooley had a decision to make. “I could let his absence be an excuse to make poor decisions or I could let his absence motivate me…

This is the tenth of 20 profiles about The Gazette’s Best and Brightest Class of 2014. When Pine Creek High School lost a freshman to suicide last year, Tabitha Kalin reached out to other students. “No one can prepare for these situations,” she said. “The best you can do is manage, catch the broken pieces…

This is the ninth of 20 profiles about The Gazette’s Best and Brightest Class of 2014. Michaela Flonard has been volunteering at an elementary school art class for the past four years. “I wanted to start helping people and doing something with my life,” she said. Her mother worked for Mountain View Elementary School, and…

This is the fourth of 20 profiles about The Gazette’s Best and Brightest Class of 2014. With varsity sports have come injuries for Kendra Baucom. A lot of injuries. “I have broken my nose several times, dislocated my jaw, broken toes, strained my knee and had almost every possible injury you can do to your…

This is the second of 20 profiles about The Gazette’s Best and Brightest Class of 2014. Volunteering at St. Francis Medical Center had become routine for Divyanka Gupta, but one weekend shift would change her. Gupta arrived at the hospital one Saturday morning and walked into Room 5034, where an elderly woman was recovering from…

This is the 18th of 20 profiles of The Gazette’s Best & Brightest Class of 2013. What Amanda McGann experienced in a small Peruvian village changed how she sees her world. ‘Many Americans view poverty as the level of life without weekly Starbucks, the Siri mechanism of the iPhone or a new wardrobe to begin…

This is the 19th of 20 profiles of The Gazette’s Best & Brightest Class of 2013. Kwang Choi believes that being generous benefits him as well as his community. ‘I am extremely lucky. Even though my low-income family has never had exorbitant amounts of expendable income, we have always been able to put food on…

This is the 16th of 20 profiles about The Gazette’s Best & Brightest Class of 2013. Like many others, President Barack Obama poked fun at where Sara Volz is researching algae as a possible biofuel. ‘Sara is breeding new types of algae. She stores this in a lab in her bedroom. So, Sara, you have…