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By Kristen De Deyn Kirk and Alison Johnson
Published: May 6, 2008
Print 
EmailOn The Cusp of Excellence
The Winners of our Teens at the Top Search for Excellence and Inspiration
When Tidewater Parent, Port Folio Weekly and Access College Foundation set out a year ago to find young, teenage leaders we knew it was a daunting task. There are so many young adults who have made exceptional contributions be they academic, artistic, or philanthropic. However, as many submissions as we received in our Teens at the Top search for excellence and inspiration, the final candidates were clearly standouts in their fields.Our goal was to find teens with that something special. Call it passion, diligence, or commitment to others. What matters is these teens inspire and have already learned that the only way to make a difference in their own lives and in their communities is to move forward, full-throttle, building on their passions and helping others at the same time.
We hope you’ll enjoy reading about them as much as we enjoyed finding them. Remember their names, this may be the first time these leaders make the news, but it probably won’t be the last.EDUCATION - Emily Meyers
Back when Emily Meyers was in elementary school, she flew through classroom books so quickly that her teachers had to order more. Today, Meyers estimates she has about 300 books in her room, including her favorite Jane Austen novels. She’s a confessed grammar nut. So it’s no surprise that the 18-year-old
“If I get into something, I really get into it,” Meyers said, laughing. “I want to be the teacher who really cares about her students – even the ones who are struggling or maybe sleeping in class. I want to make learning fun and show them how books they think are boring can be applicable to their lives.” Karmon Weidlich, the English teacher at
This year, Meyers served as president of Churchland High’s Tolerance Coalition, which aims to educate students about different cultures and religions. She helped organize an event called “Mix It Up Day”, which switched up the usual tables at lunchtime. Next, Meyers would like to see students sit with special needs classmates. “Just because someone has pink hair or something else different doesn’t mean you can’t get along,” she said. “It would be great to break up the cliques, to make people less afraid of change.”
This semester, Meyers is taking classes at Tidewater Community College in preparation for entering James Madison University in the fall. A National Honor Society member, she plans to study both English literature and psychology, hoping to earn a doctorate in psychology so she can better understand her future students. She’d like to land in a big city such as New York or Boston where she could embrace the cultural offerings and nightlife.
One trend Meyers hopes will fade soon: schools’ focus on standardized testing. She’d rather spend time on subjects that catch her students’ interests, assign creative projects and go on plenty of field trips. Too many students today, she fears, simply get bored. “We’re supposed to be this great nation, but we’re falling behind when it comes to education,” she said. “There is no excuse for anyone to be illiterate or to not be able to write and communicate well.”
POLITICS - Ian Jordan
Most students seek college admission letters of recommendation from their teachers and guidance counselors. Ian Jordan, a senior at First Colonial High School, did, too – but he also has letters from a Virginia Beach School Board member, the chair of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
What is it about this young man that moves people in such high and powerful positions to take time to help?
It could be Ian’s commitment to the law and the political process. He’s enrolled in the First Colonial High School’s Legal Studies Academy, which goes beyond the basic four-year high school requirements, with students learning about criminal investigations and court proceeding firsthand.For three years now, Ian has also volunteered for campaigns. He’s served as president of his high school’s Young Democrats group and led the group so well that it was named “the most effective High School Young Democrats Club in Virginia Beach” in supporting the 2007 election. “This is due in no small part to Mr. Jordan’s leadership and work ethic,” wrote Ollie Bates, chair of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee. These leaders might also admire Ian’s ability to put aside his past and focus instead on giving to others. Tamara Schubart, Ian’s counselor at the Legal Studies Academy, explains: “Ian’s father was shot and killed when Ian was only six years old. He lived with his grandmother in Alabama immediately following the tragedy until one day when his mother picked him up from elementary school and moved him to Virginia.”
After a long legal battle, Ian has lived in eight different homes with his mother since entering high school, but one would never get the sense that he lacks stability:“Ian has been a dedicated, hardworking member of the community, having worked on many campaigns from the election of Governor Tim Kaine to the volunteer hours he put into my election. He came to my office committed to capitalizing on the opportunity of learning the process of a political campaign. He left with the satisfaction of having accomplished that goal,” wrote Robert Mathieson, who represents Virginia’s 21st District in the House of Delegates. “Ian’s passion, enthusiasm and intelligence made him a pleasure to work with. He has creative energy and a refreshing idealism tempered to accomplish what needs to be done.”
That refreshing idealism shined through when Ian told Tidewater Parent, “There is always a way to be involved in the area where you are interested. Be good to people, and they'll be good to you when you need their help to do better. Finally, I believe if you want a better life, or any desire, badly enough, you will find a way to make it happen.”Next stop for Ian: Virginia Commonwealth University to study political science and economics. And after that?
Whatever Ian chooses.
LAW - Liren Jessica Truong
Liren Jessica Truong has never felt a pull to be like other people, or to do something just to go along with the crowd. In fact, she found one of her passions, debate, by striking out on her own path back in the sixth grade.
“I thought it would be something different than what everybody else was doing,” said Truong, now 16 and a junior at Princess Anne High school in Virginia Beach. “It’s a challenging sport for your mind. I always get really nervous right beforehand, but once I get going I do fine.” Actually, she does more than fine. A Varsity Debate member since her freshman year, Truong has won a long list of awards at district, regional and state debate tournaments. Those include a first prize this academic year in the Tidewater Debate League tournament’s classical policy debate category, which rewards speakers for logic and the depth of argument. Truong also has won recognition in forensics and mock trial competitions.
Beyond an ability to speak clearly and make sense of difficult material, Truong is able to relate well to different types of people, said Camilla Walck, who teaches Truong in an International Baccalaureate biology class. Walck predicts her student will be a “life-changer” for many people in the future. “Jessica exhibits an understanding of life and all its variety that few individuals of her age can do,” she said. “She does not judge people and always makes everyone – regardless of age, ethnicity, sex, etc. – feel welcome. She is beautiful both inside and out.”
Truong has always felt an urge to help others. One of her favorite debate topics over the years was on federal policies that could increase the number of young people in volunteer programs such as the Peace Corps. A class leader and top student – she has a 4.0-plus grade point average – Truong plans to major in political science in college, possibly at Duke University. Afterward, she hopes to go on to law school and perhaps become a criminal defense attorney. “They can help people who couldn’t afford a lawyer and are going through a lot of hardship,” she said.
Truong is a talented painter and musician as well, winning prizes for her watercolors, pastels and acrylics and playing the violin and piano. She also has taken lessons on a Chinese string instrument called the zither, part of her Taiwanese parents’ efforts to educate her and her older brother about Asian culture. Among her many volunteer activities, Truong has performed on the violin for nursing home patients and will work at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk this summer. “I really like to interact with people and make them happy,” she said.
“Happy” also is one of the three words Truong chooses to describe herself – along with “fun” and, at just 5-feet tall, “short.” The latter adjective doesn’t bother her one bit. “It sets me apart from other people,” she said. For Truong, that’s nothing new.
THE ARTS - Heidi Joy Delacruz
Looking at Heidi Delacruz’s artwork might give you one impression of the Princess Anne High School student:
She’s bright, bubbly and fun. And you would be right. Those cool sneakers, bags and hats that she decorates for friends and clients as part of the business she started certainly reflect her personality. Yet, there’s more to this young woman who has moved around a bit with her military family: A desire to help others. “I intend to start an organization to help those who have been silenced due to their life events and help them reestablish their lives,” she wrote on a scholarship application.“We’re in the Navy,” she told Tidewater Parent, “so I know what it’s like to always start over and I face some things being Filipino. You want to respect the culture but also like American culture. It’s a matter of ‘how do you find the balance?’ I have an inner sense of mission. Kids who are really lost and troubled need help the most. People internalize problems. I want them to know that I want to help them.”
Heidi is a member of the Holy Spirit Catholic Church Senior High Youth Group and has helped to prepare and serve meals at the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center, volunteered at nursing homes and a medical center and tutored students. She keeps her grades up at the same time – earning a 3.8 GPA – and is active in her Student Council Association. The future might hold a degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, but it’s too early to say for sure. Heidi breaks the artist stereotype, in that she’s thinking very practically.She won’t listen to gentle nudging telling her to go for her dream and major in art (she’s studied it since sixth grade when she was selected to attend the Old Donation Center for the Arts and takes the International Baccalaureate Visual Arts course). Instead, she thinks maybe architecture or graphic design.
Time will tell exactly how Heidi will apply her talents, but her success is guaranteed. Her visual arts teacher, Sara Reich, put it best in a letter: “Our class demands a high level of independent thinking and artistic production, which is sometimes a problem for students who are not sufficiently committed to the process. Heidi, through hours of work, often outside of class, has demonstrated the capacity to see a creative problem through to its resolution with usually outstanding results. She is tenacious and avails herself of many opportunities to show and explain her work. Her confidence, openness to the ideas of others and her delightful sense of humor reveal a maturity that sets her apart from her peers.”AGAINST ALL ODDS - Tiffany Stokely
When Tiffany Stokley, a senior at I.C. Norcom High School, is asked about the Hampton Roads African American Sports Hall of Fame listed on her resume, she shares good news: “This was actually the first scholarship I won in the amount of $2,000” she says. “I was very excited, and from there I just kept winning more.”Once you know Tiffany’s background, you just want to cheer. Her academic advisor, Maria Cooper, summer up the student’s life gently and succinctly: “She is an independent student, living on her own.”
Tiffany explained to Tidewater Parent: “It was a relief,” Tiffany says of her emancipation. “A minor being emancipated is one of those things that you only see on TV, and you never think it happens in real life. My sister wanted to do it also, but she never had the chance. So when the courts finally granted me my emancipation, it seems as if I would be afraid of all the responsibility to come, but it actually felt like a big weight was being lifted off my shoulders.”
Despite her father’s best efforts to care for her, Tiffany was placed with a foster family – and then another, and another and another. She held onto her strong faith in God, even when her father died the day before her 10th birthday, focused on her studies and worked to be emancipated.
Today, she has a 4.1 GPA and ranks second in her class, with dual enrollment English and government classes and advanced placement calculus and chemistry classes. She has received Superintendent’s Awards for mathematics, science and social studies and an American Legion Award for leadership, patriotism and citizenship. She lives with friends she met through church a few years ago. Like many teens her age, Tiffany isn’t sure what she’ll do for college and after. In mid-April, she was thinking she might attend University of Richmond and major in computer engineering. “But this decision is subject to change,” she says. “I don’t really have plans. I just stay positive and deal with the advantages and disadvantages of life as they come. I just know I will be happy and successful in whatever I will be doing. My main bit of advice to people: Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do; always ask questions if you don’t understand; and be the best you can be in all that you do. People probably hear this a lot, but I am living proof that this advice works.”COMMUNITY SERVICE - Tommy Heckelman
Tommy Heckelman can describe the exact moment he knew he wanted to become an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts organization. He was about 8 years old, and a family friend invited him to watch an induction ceremony.“Everybody respected that Eagle Scout so much,” said Heckelman, now 16. “I wanted to get that same respect. You also get to do work that helps your community and maybe impacts the larger world.” Heckelman reached his goal at the age of 14, the youngest member of his troop. His final service project helped ship boxes of medical supplies to impoverished countries, including those impacted by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. To raise money, Heckelman painted street addresses on the curbs of about 80 homes around his Virginia Beach neighborhood, a benefit to emergency services departments. Recently, Heckelman won a statewide Eagle Scout award from the American Legion.
“He’s never been more focused on anything in his life as he was in becoming an Eagle Scout,” said Loren Heckelman, Tommy’s father. “He is a person who tends to give 100 percent.” Heckelman, a junior at Princess Anne High School, credits his parents for encouraging him and his older brother to do community service at a young age. Soon after the Navy family moved to Virginia Beach, for example, they adopted a shelf at a local library (approximately 600 books) as well as a road leading to their neighborhood. Twice a month, Heckelman volunteers time to keep both neat and trash-free. “It just makes me feel good,” he said.Other volunteer projects have included landscaping outside a local nursing home, helping elementary school students in a summer enrichment program and working with children at a Vacation Bible School. This year, Heckelman began serving on the Mayor’s Youth Council, a group that meets monthly with city leaders to learn about local government and offer the youth perspective on different issues.
On top of his community service work, Heckelman maintains a 4.0-plus grade point average in the International Baccalaureate Program, plays the piano and is a competitive swimmer who often practices for more than three hours a day. Swimming appeals to him because – much like the Boy Scouts and service organizations – it emphasizes individual achievement within a communal setting. “The support of your team is really important,” he said. “It’s a lot more challenging of a sport than people would believe, but I like that.”
As for the future, Heckelman is interested in science, business and engineering and thinks about becoming either a doctor or a businessman. He has visited Princeton, Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania as he prepares for the college application process. So does Heckelman ever get tired? All the time – but he doesn’t mind. “I have time to sleep at night,” he said. And too much to do during the day.
TECHNOLOGY - Vernell Woods
Talk with Vernell Woods for 30 seconds, and you know one thing for sure: He’s a young man with a lot of energy. His fast-paced speech tells you so – and his resume and college application reference letters confirm it. “I never stop,” he says matter of factly. “I’ve been baffling everyone for four years.”
The senior at Nansemond River High School had just gotten back from a weekend trip to Ivy League Cornell University when he talked with Tidewater Parent, and while he still wasn’t sure which college he’d be attending in the fall or what he’d eventually do with his college degree, he was confident in saying that there’s one thing he’ll always do:Raise the bar for himself. “That’s the way you help the younger kids,” he says. “You raise the bar for yourself so they see what is possible.”
Vernell keeps this philosophy in mind when working with middle school students who want to be wrestlers. He volunteers with the Warriors Wrestling Club at John Yates Middle School and has coached a baseball team in the past. Oh yeah, he’s also earned topped ranking in high school wrestling districts and a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and played golf and baseball for his high school. A jock? Obviously – but Vernell is also a scholar, with a 4.2 GPA. One of his academic passions is computer engineering, and he has already found a way to work in the field: He convinced the Suffolk Public Schools system to bring him on in the technology department – and has earned rave reviews. “Every employee in the department wants to work with Vernell,” John Littlefield, director of technology for the schools, wrote in a letter. In addition to serving as a mentor for middle school students working with the LEGO Mindstorm Robotics, Vernell is president of the statewide Technology Student Association. “As far as I know, we’re the only student-run organization in the country,” Vernell explains. “I started the first annual leadership council for the group, and I’m responsible for a budget of about $100,000.” A future as a computer engineer might be in the works for Vernell – or maybe one in politics. He plans to minor in political science. But don’t start looking for Vernell’s first bid for political office in four years. It might be a little longer: He’s already planning on staying in school until he’s earned his doctorate’s degree.
JOURNALISM - TaQuana Williams
TaQuana Williams freely admits to being argumentative. Not in a nasty way, but in a pro-devil’s-advocate way. She likes to see if she can sway others to the opposite side of an issue, even if she doesn’t necessarily agree with that side. She likes being able to prove a point.“The other kids in my school have gotten used to it,” Williams said. “They’ll laugh and say, ‘OK, let’s see if TaQuana can change people’s minds this time.’”
Williams’ energy and fearlessness – combined with a near-constant smile on her face – are behind an already impressive list of accomplishments in journalism, her teachers say. “I am in total awe of her,” said Blair Thurman, a journalism teacher and advisor for the student newspaper at Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, where Williams is a junior. “I think she is motivated more by a desire to experience as much as possible than to simply succeed to get ahead. She certainly wants to get ahead, but her motive is to live life to the fullest and be as big a part of everything she does.”
Williams, 17, is front page editor of the school paper and, according to Thurman, is a gifted writer who likely will be the next Editor-in-Chief. She does design work and contributes stories and columns on a range of topics each issue. Last year, her piece on radio host Don Imus won a prize in the Virginia High School League Editorial Writing contest. Another of Williams’ favorite articles was a profile of an assistant principal who, during a three hour interview, shared personal tidbits such as her trip to a live Beatles concert. “I love the idea of getting information that no one else knows and putting it out for other people to learn about,” Williams said.
Outside school, Williams has written stories for the Virginian-Pilot’s teen “757” section and participated in the newspaper’s High School Diversity Workshop. She also has worked on the “Teen News Now” television series for the CW network. She feels strongly that good journalism is an art form – and that newspapers are still important in a high-tech world.“A lot of people find it easier to go on the Internet, but you can’t trust all the information you find there,” she said. “Good newspaper articles have their sources checked and go through more copy edits.”
Journalism is just one of Williams’ interests. She also would like to study law, possibly by attending law school after getting a journalism degree from Howard University. She has been a dancer – ballet, jazz, tap and hip-hop – for 11 years. And to no one’s surprise, she was elected junior class president this year. “She has a wonderful sense of humor, gets along with everyone and always senses when people are down and need some comforting,” Thurman said. And if anyone is up for an argument, she’s ready for that, too.
