Hannah is not one of those people who waits around for life to happen. As she enters her junior year of high school, she has 11 years of tap dancing and 6 years of jazz and ballet under her belt. She has studied the flute and the piano and sings in her school vocal ensemble.
She’s also the student representative on the St. Stanislaus Parish Pastoral Council, attending monthly meetings to ensure that young people in the parish have a voice. “It’s a great thing,” she says, noting that it also gives adult representatives an opportunity to hear about what’s going on in youth group.
Hannah feels very at home at her parish, the same one in which her father was raised. “Sometimes I serve all the Masses on a Sunday morning, so I know a lot of people from all the Masses,” she says. If she’s not serving, she’s likely to be found cantoring. Involvement in her parish comes naturally for Hannah, as it has always played a central role in her family’s life. Music, too, has been front and center for most of her 16 years.
She first appeared at the Erie Playhouse in the role of an orphan in Annie Jr. when she was just eight years old. By fourth grade, she was playing the lead in Annie at Harbor Creek High School. Among her favorite roles was that of Ursula Merkle in Bye Bye Birdie. (If you’ve ever seen the musical, you’d remember Ursula as the young woman obsessed with Conrad Birdie; she had to scream hysterically throughout the show.)
Hannah was nominated as Teen of the Year by Sister Mary Ann White, SSJ, who says that Hannah not only participates in many activities, but also motivates others to join in. She has already demonstrated considerable leadership as a peer counselor at school and as the primary organizer of her youth group’s Fast from Food project this year. Sister Mary Ann notes that Hannah is a role model for the younger children she encounters. One of the places she encounters them is as an aide in religious education.
If you’re looking for a secret to Hannah’s success, it might be that she seems to have a knack for opening herself up to all that the adults in her life have to offer her.
“I have so many people who support me besides my friends,” she says. “My family, my guidance counselors, my teachers, my parish.” She makes it clear it’s not all roses—“I actually do fight with my parents sometimes,” she admits with a laugh. “But I’m an optimistic person. I always look for the good in things. And I’m not afraid to voice my opinion.”
Hannah had the opportunity to learn a great deal about herself and her opinions this summer when she spent three weeks in the Europe as an ambassador for the People to People program.
“The main purpose of the experience is to expand your cultural knowledge,” she explains. “Ultimately, they’re hoping to bring peace through understanding.” Hannah says the program achieved its goal.
“Europe is a completely different world,” she observes. “Everything is different—from the architecture to the roads to the schools.” She also got the sense the people she encountered seem to have a better understanding of how to slow down and appreciate life. The trip helped her uncover something else as well—turns out she really has the travel bug.
Is there anything she doesn’t do? “I’m not an athlete at all,” she admits. But then again, she’s often the one on the field singing the National Anthem with the vocal ensemble. “I have lots of friends involved in all kinds of sports,” she says, “so I try to go to their games whenever I can.”
Whether she’s in the spotlight or on the sidelines, one thing is certain: Hannah’s foundation in faith, family and friends has her headed in the right direction.
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One of the first things that caught our attention about Helen was a short story Kathy Whittaker included on her nomination form.
“Helen really touched my heart as a mom,” she wrote, “by her involvement with my daughter, Sarah.” It seems Helen took the time to mentor Sarah through 4-H, working with her on a difficult sewing project. “Helen was always attentive and easygoing,” Kathy said. “The time they shared was a tremendous boost to my daughter’s self-esteem and confidence. What a gift!”
It was a good example of a simple gesture that made a difference in someone else’s life—something that is second nature to Helen.
This past year, Helen helped teach 4th grade religious education at Beloved Disciple Parish in Grove City. “I do it because I’m needed,” she says matter of factly, “and because I like to get involved.”
Like many of her peers, Helen’s resume is already a mile long. She has taken full advantage of all 4-H has to offer in her community, qualifying for competitions in fashion and nutrition at Penn State on three different occasions. (Last year, Helen worked on a design project with Cecilia Maley—who also nominataed her for the Teen of the Year Award.) She was active in Key Club, a school service organization, and played soccer throughout high school.
At Beloved Disciple she has been a leader in the senior high youth ministry program, an altar server and a Vacation Bible School volunteer. She recently became a eucharistic minister. In addition to attending the week-long Catholic Leadership Institute and Journey to Emmaus offered by the Erie Diocese, she has traveled to both Canada and Germany to participate in World Youth Days. “I try to be as busy as possible,” Helen says. “I like to try new things and to make a difference.”
She’ll be trying all kinds of new things when she starts classes with a double major in art history and chemistry at Nazareth College in Rochester this fall. She hopes to combine those two interests in a career in art conservation.
Late last spring, a day or two before we notified Helen and her family of her award, her world was turned upside down. The eldest of five children and the only one with a driver’s license, Helen began taking on more responsibilities with her brother, Andrew, 15, and her three sisters: Emily, 11; Maggie, 7 and Marigrace, 3. As she was driving her sisters to church one day, another driver ran a stop sign and t-boned the family van on a 55-mph road.
“It was a huge shock for me,” Helen remembers. So much so that, unaware of her own injuries, she immediately got out of the van to check on her siblings. “I looked kind of scary, though,” she says. With a gash above her eye and other cuts and bruises, she was able to help her little sisters calm down and verify that no one was hurt seriously, including the person who had hit them.
Her last summer before college was changed in an instant. She assumed the trouble she was having seeing in one eye was the result of a contact being jarred loose in the impact; in fact, she had sustained an injury that would require eye surgery.
“It certainly showed me you can’t take life for granted,” Helen says. She was able to postpone her advanced placement test and had to cancel a planned trip to New York City. But she came away from the experience with a grateful heart. “A few more inches and the van would have flipped down an embankment,” she says. “It was a miracle that no one was seriously hurt and I knew God was with us the whole time.”
As for the future, after her first year of college Helen plans to join a group of about 20 people from her parish and elsewhere heading to Sydney, Australia for World Youth Day next summer. “I got to meet kids from all over the world when it was held in Germany,” she says. “Mass on the last day was amazing. I think a million people attended.” She’s hoping for another uplifting experience.
“It’s kind of crazy being around so many people,” she says. “But it’s worth it.” She particularly remembers a Mass held for all of the English-speaking participants.
The event she remembers most clearly? “Being in a stadium with so many people participating in Mass so enthusiastically” she says. “Come join us!” |
Jesse Spade Memorial Award winners 
