Monday, 23 June 2014

23 Incredibly Impressive Kids Graduating From High School This Year




incredibly impressive students kids graduating high school BI graphic


Before queuing up “Pomp and Circumstance,” let’s take a moment to recognize the best and the brightest high-school seniors in the U.S.


All of these wunderkinds — including an Olympic athlete, a cancer survivor, a researcher, a Thiel Fellow, a self-published novelist, and a musical darling who’s been admitted to all eight Ivy League schools — show that age has no bearing on what people can accomplish.


Based on reader nominations, local news stories from around the country, and word of mouth, we found the 24 most impressive students graduating from high school this year.


Kate Avino built an online magazine with a team of 30 writers.


High school: Indian Hills High School, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey


What makes her impressive: Avino founded Her Culture magazine so that women around the world would have a place to read about and share experiences, lifestyles, traditions, languages, and customs. She created the website — which has articles, online forums, and a blogging platform — in two days.


Magazine issues are published twice monthly and have featured prominent women such as Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Congolese women’s-rights activist Neema Namadu. Her Culture partners with organizations like World Reader, Hello Perfect, MissHeard Magazine, and Molly & Fox magazine, to help advance Her Culture’s mission.


Avino writes for The Huffington Post and Chelsea Krost and is a member of the National Association for Professional Women and the International Women’s Association. At school she is the editor-in-chief of the newspaper and the yearbook.


Plans for next year: Avino will be attending New York University in the fall, majoring in media, culture, and communications and minoring in entrepreneurship. She says she plans to continue working with Her Culture and “kick-starting other magazines to spread women’s empowerment.”






Ryan Betz completed a half-marathon in all 50 states.


High school: Park Tudor School, Indianapolis, Indiana


What makes him impressive: When he was a freshman, Ryan Betz sat at the kitchen table one day with his mom and racked his brain for a way to give back to the community, which had given him so many opportunities for success. They decided he should run a half-marathon in every state to raise money for charity.


Over the past four years, Betz has run 655 miles and raised $ 40,000 through his website, ryanrunning.com. He created an endowment allowing inner-city students to attend Park Tudor High School, Betz’s private college-preparatory school, tuition-free.


He’s talking to Guinness World Records for verification that he is the youngest person to achieve this feat.


Betz averaged one half-marathon a month — running up a mountain in Hawaii, limping through a trailer park in Kansas with a broken toe, and exploring corners of the U.S. that he never expected to visit. “The smaller, more obscure states showed me how truly awesome America is,” Betz says.


Plans for next year: Hoping to earn a college track scholarship, Betz will compete next year as a postgraduate at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, to beef up his transcript and run faster times.






Saira Blair is on her way to becoming the youngest person to ever serve in the West Virginia Legislature.


High school: Hedgesville High School, Martinsburg, West Virginia


What makes her impressive: Saira Blair turns 18 — the legal voting age — in July, but she’s already defeated a two-term incumbent in the primary election for the West Virginia House of Delegates.


“I was surprised that the people in my community understood that someone as young as I am could share their conservative beliefs,” says Blair, who characterized herself as a pro-life, pro-family, and pro-jobs fiscal conservative on her campaign fliers. “You don’t have to wait until you’re 40, 50, or 60 years old to recognize the social and economic benefits of conservative principles.”


When Blair decided to run for office, she set out to make a more business-friendly West Virginia. “You can get a good education in W.V. if you choose to. What is difficult to get is a good paying job,” says Blair, describing students as “our greatest export.”


If elected, she plans to address that issue through tax reforms, judicial reforms, and reducing government bureaucracy.


Plans for next year: Blair plans to double-major in economics and Spanish at West Virginia University this fall. She will appear on the ballot in November, facing off against Democratic candidate Layne Diehl.





See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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