WARREN — Twenty of the most impressive young leaders Trumbull County has to offer have been selected for the Tribune Chronicle’s 2018 Class of Twenty Under 20.

In its sixth year now, the program, co-sponsored by the Tribune Chronicle, Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley and Kent State University at Trumbull, honors 20 high-achieving individuals younger than 20 for their leadership skills through volunteerism, extracurricular activities and academic achievements.

“These students showed tremendous leadership in their volunteer service, and they excel academically,” said Sue Shafer, community events coordinator for the Tribune Chronicle. “As in years past, it was a challenging task for the judges to pick the winners.”

The students, chosen out of 47 nominations, will be honored Dec. 4 at an awards dinner at DiVieste Banquet Hall, and then featured in a special magazine published in the Tribune Chronicle the next day.

The winners were selected based on a calculation of 50 percent academic accomplishments and 25 percent achievements and extracurricular activities. The top five winners will be selected to split $1,000 to be donated to their chosen charities. One overall winner will be picked from among the five. Those winners will be announced during the dinner.

KSU at Trumbull will give each of the 20 students selected a $1,000 scholarship toward tuition at the school if they attend KSU at Trumbull as a full-time student.

The Class of 2018 has three high school juniors, 16 high school seniors and a student at Youngstown State University. There are two winners who won last year. The winners are:

• Katrina Altawil, 16, a junior at Howland High School

• Julia Carson, 18, a senior at Niles McKinley High School

• Melody Castner, 17, a senior at Hubbard High School

• Kayla Marie Clark, 17, a senior at Howland High School

• Cassie Forsha, 16, a junior at Badger High School

• Gannon Fridley, 17, a senior at Warren John F. Kennedy High School

• Blake Gould, 17, a senior at Lakeview High School

• Gianna Jones, 18, a freshman at Youngstown State University who also won in 2017

• Isabella Kellar, 16, a junior at Maplewood High School

• Joon Marie Kim, 17, a senior at Lakeview High School / Trumbull Career and Technical Center

• Lillian Kish, 18, a senior at Hubbard High School

• Katie McBane, 16, a senior at Warren G. Harding High School

• Angelica Park, 16, a senior at Girard High School

• Alexander Payiavlas, 17, a senior at Warren G. Harding High School

• Brenna Rimer, 17, a senior at Bristol High School

• Michael A. Schaefer, 18, a senior at Howland High School

• Kathryn Sharples, 17, a senior at Girard High School

• Michael VanSuch, 17, a senior at Hubbard High School

• Lydia Walls, 18, a senior at Warren G. Harding High School who won in 2017

• Dante Zamarelli, 17, a senior at Warren John F. Kennedy High School

The community is invited to attend the awards dinner to recognize the winners. Tickets are $20 and are available in the lobby of the Tribune Chronicle, 240 Franklin St. SE, Warren, or by calling Shafer at 330-841-1696. The lobby is open 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.