Madi is a 9th grade student at the Dayton Regional STEM school. She has made a name for herself on the internet and has attended podcast interviews, collaborations and events for large audiences and countless artistic projects. She is an aspiring artist, writer and speaker and hopes her commitments to extracurricular activities like this will lead her to a very successful career or college.

Liam enjoys spending time with others, as well as playing sports and video games. He attends Oakwood High School and has lived there his entire life.

Anya’s Talk: The Thing About Lawns

Anya is a high school student from Dayton, Ohio. She is the president of her school’s gardening club, which means gardening and plants are a big part of her day-today life. If she’s not taking care of her plants, she is cuddling with her cat with her nose in a book.

Ande’s Talk: The Effect of Sexualized Media (*Mature subject matter)

Ande is a sophomore at the Miami Valley School and has lived in Ohio for the past nine years. When she’s not taking part in various clubs or extracurricular activities, (or studying) she’s usually either teaching an art class to elementary students in downtown Dayton, hanging out with her friends and family, or nerding out over Disney movies with anyone who will listen.

Dana’s Talk: Ending Period Poverty

Dana loves cats and baking. She also cheers and runs track. She has a great love of public speaking. She was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio and loves the Dayton community. She especially loves how everyone manages to come together in times of need.

Catherine’s Talk: Finding Love in a Circuit

Catherine is an 18-year-old sophomore at Wright State University, currently studying Electrical Engineering. However, she hopes to someday study Aerospace Engineering and explore the final frontier by building satellites. When she’s not soldering or studying, she can be found in a practice room, singing or playing her baritone horn, or writing poetry.

Sydney’s Talk: The Good in Gossip

Sydney is a high school senior who has lived in Dayton her whole life. She’s passionate about field hockey as well as speech and debate. She’s planning to attend college upon graduation and wants to major in philosophy.

Alivia’s Talk: You’re More Than Your GPA

Alivia is a junior at the Dayton Regional STEM School and is sixteen years old. Outside of school, she enjoys writing, scrolling through social media, and talking to anyone and everyone she can. In the future, Alivia hopes to pursue a career as a broadcast journalist or a clinical psychologist.

Katelyn’s Talk: Who Am I Now?

Katelyn is a freshman at the University of Dayton. She is currently studying international business. She greatly enjoys the outdoors and exploring new places and new cultures.

Max’s Talk: Productivity & How Not to Burn Out

Max is a freelance filmmaker born from the creativity of the Dayton arts community. He now travels the US making narrative shorts, documentaries, features, and music videos, and will be attending Ohio State in the fall. His work has won over 30 awards and official selections at film festivals internationally. When he’s not making films, he’s most likely reading a book, napping, or taking a shower.

Sophia’s Talk: Acceptance Can Be the Key

Sophia is a young activist in the LGBT+ community, attempting to bring acceptance into her community wherever possible. She is the president of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance at Fairborn High School, where she attends as a sophomore. Her other passion is Olympicstyle fencing, which she has been doing competitively for 7 years.

Ryann’s Talk: Ending Period Poverty

Ryann is a creative with a passion for photography. She doesn’t see limits— only opportunities to be a part of creating change for her community. When she isn’t advocating for social change, you can find her on the court playing basketball, on the sidelines cheering or running for her school’s track team, and being her school’s mascot. Ryann hopes to pursue a career in Psychology with a focus on trauma and Veterans.

Savannah’s Talk: It Only Takes One

Savannah is a marine science enthusiast who was born in Cleveland, Ohio and moved to Dayton at age 10. She is a junior at Bellbrook High School and hopes to attend college to pursue a degree in environmental science. She enjoys reading mystery books and writing short stories. When she isn’t reading or writing, you can find her outside playing lacrosse or hanging out with her friends.

Caterina’s Talk: Applying the Past

Caterina is a high school student with a name that approximately 7% of the population can pronounce. She has a love for all things except country music, and especially enjoys drinking overpriced kombucha. You can catch Cat on weekends cleaning her room like she’s in a 2000’s movie montage… just kidding (she doesn’t clean her room).

Nola’s Talk: Finding Light in the Dark

Nola is a senior at The Miami Valley School. She was born in China and adopted at fifteen months old. She is an aerial performer and instructor. When she is not studying or doing aerial arts, Nola enjoys spending time with her dogs, reading, and doing art projects. She hopes to pursue a career in architecture and design.

PERFORMER: Jackson Hoffer

Jackson’s Performance

Jackson is a senior at Bellbrook High School. He records and produces his own songs. You can see him play in and around the Dayton area.

PERFORMER: Miami Valley School Jazz Band

The MVS Jazz Band is the flagship band ensemble at The Miami Valley School. Serving as music ambassadors on campus and off, the group performs locally at The Greene, the Beavercreek Weekend of Jazz, and other special engagements. Arriving to school at 7:20am for class each day, the band is a diverse group of strongly committed musicians excited to share the Jazz medium with you.