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WARREN -- Twenty of the most impressive young leaders in Trumbull County have been selected for the 2022 Class of Twenty Under 20.
Now in its 10th year, 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.
Sue Shafer, community events coordinator for the Tribune Chronicle, said the students will be featured in a special magazine Dec. 7 and honored at a banquet Dec. 6 at DiVieste's Banquet Center in Warren.
"We had a record number of nominations this year at 68, which shows how many young people are emerging as leaders in their communities," Shafer said.
She also noted there is a wide variety of school districts represented, with 11. This year's class also includes one college freshman, one high school freshman, one high school junior and 17 seniors. The class also includes 17 girls and three boys.
"As usual, this is a really great group of students and it was nice to see nominations from a larger number of schools. With so many nominees, it was a daunting task for the judges to choose only 20," Shafer said.
The students, whose volunteer activities run the gamut from food pantries and church groups to the Warren Family Mission and Special Olympics, were nominated by family members, teachers, club advisers and school guidance counselors. Many of them have 4.0 grade point averages, have taken college credit courses and are on track to graduate at the top of their classes.
The winners were selected based on a calculation of 50 percent leadership and 25 percent each academic achievement and extracurricular activities. The top five winners will be selected to split $1,000 to be donated to the local charity of their choice. One overall winner will be picked from among the five. Those winners will be announced during the banquet.
This year's winners are:
• Taylor Baer, a senior at Howland;
• Grace Benner, a senior at Hubbard;
• Julia Bugos, a senior at Champion;
• Courtney Clark, a senior at Howland;
• Abigail DeJoy, a senior at Brookfield;
• Payton Fleischer, a senior at Maplewood;
• Mia Bella Jones, a junior at Warren G. Harding;
• Ava Kuntz, a freshman at McDonald;
• Thomas Larney of Hubbard, a freshman at Miami of Ohio University;
• Sophia Latell, a senior at Girard;
• Mariah Leskovac, a senior at LaBrae;
• Caidan Morris, a senior at McDonald;
• Nadia Petersen, a senior at Warren G. Harding;
• Isabel Petrilla, a senior at Lakeview;
• Erina Ramsey, a senior at Warren G. Harding;
• Kerrigan Riley, a senior at Warren G. Harding;
• Riley Robinette, a senior at Champion;
• Thomas Valent, a senior at Warren JFK;
• Chloe Williams, a senior at Warren G. Harding;
• Madelynn Zuccaro, a senior at Warren G. Harding