In our three towns, a teenager’s day is often packed with academic demands and after-school commitments that reach into the evening hours. Teens’ schedules can be mind-boggling. In the midst of it all, some zero in on an academic subject or a sport, hobby, talent or worthy cause and pursue it with tremendous passion and dedication. The results are remarkable. Each of the teens we’ve selected has broken new ground by striving for something big. While their specialties and interests are varied, they all have one quality in common: perseverance. They strive for excellence, they take risks and they never stop trying.
Caroline Kitchener, 17
Poised and confident, Caroline enjoys nothing more than donning a suit and heels, walking onto a stage and delivering an original speech in front of 250 or more people at a scholastic debate tournament. “You can pick your message and reach so many people,” says the New Canaan resident. “I love it.”
As cocaptain of the speech and debate team at the Convent of the Sacred Heart (CSH) in Greenwich, Caroline captured some twenty awards in the New York Catholic Forensic League, including from national competitions at Harvard, Yale and St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. “She’s a star in original oratory,” says Paul Grisanti, the CSH coach of speech and debate. “A lot of kids are hesitant to write their own speeches, but not Caroline.”
After interning for Hillary Clinton in 2008, Caroline was inspired to present Clinton’s Beijing speech, “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights,” at the Catholic National Championships in Wisconsin. She placed an impressive seventh out of several hundred students and was amazed at the effect she had on the audience. “People came up to me afterward and said it changed their perception of women,” she says. “That’s powerful.”
Caroline has a keen interest in politics, with an eye toward a future in government. As a senior she’ll pursue an area of debate called “student congress,” in which students research the pros and cons of bills presented by all twenty schools in the league. “That she is willing to devote herself to this new category so strongly is quite exceptional and so typical of Caroline,” says Grisanti. “She is young America at its very best.”
Grisanti presides over a debate club that Caroline cofounded last year. The group meets once a week at lunch, when students argue passionately about issues ranging from gay marriage to tax cuts. “There’s a lot of give and take, it goes back and forth,” he says. “Caroline is very respectful of her friends who hold different opinions.”
Andrew Gagne, 17
A senior at Darien High School, Andrew enjoys his time in the lab. This year he will prepare a Power Point presentation, the culmination of his three-year independent study on cellulosic biofuel, a plant-based energy source drawn from bark and leaves, for the Darien Science Symposium. His experiments focus on converting sugars in plant matter to energy that be can used to power cars.
“Fifty years down the road, I see Americans pretty much off fossil fuels, using a combination of solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric and biofuels from cellulose,” he says. “We could run half of America’s cars on fuels converted from cellulose. It’s widely available and doesn’t compete with the food supply, which makes it more favorable than corn-based ethanol. It would be nice if the U.S. could get a domestic, clean energy source.”
During his junior year, Andrew examined another potential energy source: lignin, an otherwise useless by-product of the decomposition of cellulose. An avid reader of scientific journals, Andrew discovered that a professor at Wesleyan University was doing similar lab work on lignin. He contacted her and landed a summer internship, a requirement for the independent study.
“Andrew is one of the most enthusiastic and academically gifted students in the program,” says David Lewis, his academic advisor at DHS. “He has shown tremendous potential to become a future leader in science.”
In the meantime, he’s making his own community a bit cleaner as a Boy Scout. For his Eagle project, Andrew organized twenty Scouts and their families on a 106-hour cleanup of Olsen Woods in Darien. “There was a dense flooding of trash washing down the river,” he says. “It was really gratifying to clean it all up.”
Molly O’Neill, 17
To amuse herself in the middle of physics class, Molly, a New Canaanite and senior at Greenwich Academy, often jots down a few lines of poetry. It’s a fun, creative outlet, but it also happens to be her strong suit. This spring she accepted her second Silver Award from the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards at Carnegie Hall, where she was honored with other top writers and artists from around the country.
“Molly is such a deep thinker,” says her academic advisor, Julia Guggenheimer. “The first time I read a poem of hers, I was blown away.” Since freshman year Molly has contributed to Daedalus, the school’s literary magazine. This fall, as coeditor, she will lead weekly meetings, where students first vote on which pieces to publish, then break into a writing workshop to generate new material.
Drawn to the classics, Molly takes classes such as AP Vergil, honors Latin and ancient Greek. This passion led to an independent study for which she plans to write an original play, adapted from Greek and Latin literature, with a female hero as a modern twist. “Molly can take a great idea and really develop and explore it,” says Guggenheimer. “There’s perseverance in her thinking.”
She also loves the stage and has been in at least one drama production every year, most recently as a member of the chorus in Les Miserables. “I love every thing about theater,” she says. “I’m so energized by it—even when late rehearsals mean I don’t start my homework until 10:30 p.m.”
To relax and rejuvenate, Molly turns to running. She’s cocaptain of the cross-country team this fall and will also run track in the spring. “Running is just part of who I am,” she says. “I love how it’s a mental sport where you need to push yourself, but also get to contribute to a team. It’s a great group of girls, one of the most close-knit teams in our school.”
Ryan Saffa, 17
Ryan’s blue eyes exude calm, but underneath his relaxed demeanor is a drive that propelled him rapidly through the training program at Post 53, Darien’s 24-hour volunteer ambulance service.
Along with other Darien High School students hoping to become “Posties,” Ryan completed a six-week first aid course freshman year and was elected a candidate who could attend weekly training and business meetings. Later that year, as a radio roomie, Ryan handled police dispatches and other emergency communications. That spring he assisted EMTs with patient care and passed practical and written tests to become a rider, or ambulance crew member.
Having shown competence and commitment, Ryan was selected for Post’s six-month training program to become an EMT his sophomore year. In addition to 140 hours of class work, Ryan did emergency room rotations at Norwalk and Stamford hospitals. He continued his shifts at Post, where he was elected technology officer on the student board. And he studied. To serve at Post, he needed an 80 percent pass on six state practical tests and a written exam, and he got it. “It gave me such a great feeling,” he says. “I achieved a goal I’d been working toward for so long.”
Junior year he used his EMT skills on his shifts as a first responder. On one house call, he assisted a patient who couldn’t breathe by pumping an oxygen mask all the way to the hospital. “Ryan is very professional in his demeanor and mature for his age,” says Dennis Cummings, director-adviser for Darien’s EMS Post 53. “He has to handle all types.”
In the spring of his junior year, Ryan was elected Postie president by his peers, a group of more than 60 students. In a typical week, he spends about 40 hours at the building. He carries a radio at all times, listening in and giving advice when needed. “As president, you have to make sure everything is running smoothly,” he says. “We strive for excellence here.”
Giving back to the community is a theme that runs in the family. In his junior year, Ryan joined his brother, father, grandfather and two uncles as an Eagle Scout, the highest scout rank attainable. The Darien Community Center was the beneficiary of Ryan’s Eagle project: a walking path and bird sanctuary, complete with a plaque naming local aviary species.
Alexandra Jaffe, 17
During her junior year, when Ali, an honors student at St. Luke’s in New Canaan, became editor of her school’s monthly paper, the Sentinel, it was clear that new standards were in place. First, she tripled the staff from five to fifteen members, largely by tapping the English Department for talented writers. Next, she expanded the paper from six to eight pages, adding the column “A Day in the Life,” a close-up look at a teacher or staffer.
“Ali has really worked hard to make the Sentinel a more popular, student-friendly publication,” says Steve Flachsbart, English Department chair at St. Luke’s. “She’s incredibly enthusiastic, hard-working and motivated.” The April Fool’s issue of the Sentinel—pure parody in a serious voice—received rave reviews on campus.
Not one to shy away from controversy, Ali, who calls New Canaan home, brings serious issues to the editorial pages.
One story addressed her concern that students were abusing the privilege of writing teacher evaluations. If a student got a poor grade in a class, for example, he or she might write something overblown about the teacher to retaliate. “The administration had no idea,” she says. “It needed to be written.” Another piecce explored the trend of teachers joining Facebook and privacy issues online. It created a buzz on campus and turned more heads toward the paper.
Ali comes from a close-knit, bustling family of six and is the oldest child. No stranger to responsibility, Ali also has plans for the Environmental Club, of which she is president.
“It’s the single most important issue at our school,” she says. Her views were shaped on a National Geographic student expedition to Iceland, when she helped produce a documentary about the industries and lives that are being transformed by climate change. A carbon-cutting contest and carpool week are two of the programs she hopes to launch at school this fall.
Ali’s efficient working ways come in part from summers spent in the office of Congresswoman Nita Lowey in White Plains. As an intern Ali helped veterans with housing and medical needs. “I like to connect people with information,” she says. One year she helped renew passports for emergency cases in a matter of days—even when the computer system crashed. Now there’s a kid who can get the real story.
Stephanie Ko, 17
When she’s not at her desk, diligently doing the type of academic work that placed her in the national honors society, Stephanie is on the golf course. “Golf helps me through it,” she says. “It helps me focus.”
Stephanie started playing golf at the range with her dad around age ten. “It grew on me as I got older and better at it,” she says. “I felt like I could take golf with me forever.” In sixth grade she took up the sport in earnest, leaving soccer behind. She attended golf camps in the summer and played on weekends for fun.
Freshman year, Stephanie made the varsity team at Darien High School. She began to follow professional golfers and grew to admire Lorena Ochoa on the LPGA tour. “She’s levelheaded when she’s in a tight spot,” she says. “I admire her mental game.”
Now a senior at Darien High School, Stephanie is cocaptain of varsity golf for the third year in a row. Last spring the team had a record season. For the first time, they qualified for the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, where they placed second. “Everybody brought their A game,” she says. “We gave it a great team effort.”
The girls went on to the state championship, where they placed fourteenth. Despite the disappointment Stephanie remains optimistic. “Even if it’s not a great day, we never say anything negative,” she says. “The key is to play in the moment and not get ahead of yourself.”
Stephanie brings true leadership to the team, says Varsity Coach Brian Zeyer. “Before a match, she explains what the girls need to know about the course. In practice, she helps younger teammates figure out ways to play the hole. One improved greatly as a result.”
Over the summer Stephanie participated in a dozen tournaments to keep her competitive edge. “My goal is for our team to be just as successful this year,” she says. “And my personal goal is to be one of the top fifteen golfers in the state—to qualify for All State.”
Stephanie brings her dedication to her church youth group at St. Thomas More in Darien as well. In addition to fundraising for the Food Bank of Stamford, she has traveled to Kentucky for the past two years to build homes for families in need. “When we arrived last summer, the house was only a foundation,” she says. “But after a week of lifting and nailing planks, there was a frame. I was really proud of our group.”
Christian Higgins, 16
At 4:45 a.m. on a typical school day, Christian, a junior at New Canaan High School, gets a wake-up call from his mom. He grabs his Boston terrier, Bo, and five minutes later, the two are in the car, with mom driving to the pool at the New Canaan YMCA, where Christian will do an hour and a half of laps. He’ll return to the Y for two more hours in the afternoon. Sundays are his only day off. He’s in the pool so much because he does double duty: He swims for the Y’s Caimans and last year joined his high school team, the Rams.
Christian traded in the lacrosse turf for the swimming pool in seventh grade, when a collarbone fracture forced him to find a new sport. Already a winter swimmer at the Y, he committed to swimming year-round. “I had just finished a strong season with the Y team,” he says. “My coaches told me I could have success if I put the time in.”
He stuck with it and that year, at age twelve, Christian made the Zone Team, composed of the top two swimmers per age group for each event in the state. “I’ve never been that excited after a race,” he says. “When you get the results you want, it’s really rewarding.”
His results are hard-won. Christian is the YMCA national champion in the 200-yard breaststroke. “I won by one-tenth of a second,” he says. “You know you have room for improvement when you’re barely winning.” He has placed first for his age in the state for the 200-meter breaststroke. Nationally, he’s in the top five for the event.
Not every season is perfect. Last year at Junior Nationals, he missed the mark in both of his best events—100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke—by a fraction of a second. The loss only fueled his ambition. “This year,” he says, “my goal is to break a national record and make the Junior National team by a huge amount.” Every victory, no matter how slight, is a stepping-stone to international competition. This summer Christian qualified to compete in trials for both the World Games and the Olympics. “Christian’s level of dedication is unparalleled,” says Jason Paige, his coach at the Y. “If he stays hungry and makes the sacrifices needed, the 2012 Olympic Games is realistic for him.”
Caitie McManus, 18
Take one look at her welcoming smile and you’re not surprised that Caitie McManus, a graduate of New Canaan High School, is an ambassador of friendship. For four years she helped run her school’s version of “Best Buddies,” an international organization that promotes friendships between students with disabilities and typical peers.
As chapter president her junior year, Caitie enlisted new members and created fundraisers and social events to ensure that each buddy match was a success. She expanded the club, using recruiting skills learned over the summer at a leadership conference she was invited to attend at the University of Indiana.
During her free time, Caitie was often with her own buddy of four years, James. She learned sign language to communicate with James, who has impaired mental abilities. The two sat together at lunch, worked out at the fitness center after school, and watched hockey and baseball games on weekends. “He is a friend for life,” she says. “James inspires me to overcome my obstacles just like he does.”
Caitie has also taken the stage to help kids get socially grounded. For two years, as a member of a school club, “Mentoring through Drama,” she cowrote and performed skits for middle school students about peer pressure, gossip and cliques. The plays were a hit, and the school expanded the program to include a younger grade the following year.
Outside of school Caitie taught horseback riding and equine care to students at the New Canaan Mounted Troop (NCMT), where she was named Captain of the Year. With the troop, Caitie devoted lots of time and energy to raise the hefty funds needed to build a new barn.
“Caitie has true passion for working with children,” says Liz Dubrowski, an instructor at NCMT. “She’s patient, hard-working and dedicated.”
Caitie leaves for the University of Findlay in Ohio this fall with a scholarship that acknowledges her work in the community. Last spring she was awarded the Murray D. Martin Heart of Gold scholarship by the Volunteer Center of Southwest Fairfield County and Pitney Bowes for her dedication, leadership and passion.
Connor Fitzpatrick, 18
An avid scuba diver, underwater photographer and honors student at Brunswick Academy with an interest in marine biology, Connor spent two summers doing reef surveys in the Caribbean. On one dive he descended to find a bleak seafloor where a thriving coral reef should have been. “It was a truly unsettling moment,” says the Darien resident. “I had seen the effects of global warming firsthand.
I decided to start a group that could make a difference.”
His sophomore year Connor cofounded the Brunswick Environmental Action and Responsibility group (BEAR). The first year, the group placed paper recycling bins in every classroom, a project they financed by fundraising. During a building renovation, a cost analysis from BEAR convinced the administration to replace old windows with energy-efficient glass and traditional lights with fluorescent bulbs.
During Connor’s senior year, BEAR introduced bottle and can recycling and started a tradition: Before winter break every machine in the school is unplugged, a move that saves thousands of dollars—and kilowatts of energy. Connor will be a freshman at Cornell University this fall, but he leaves behind a well-trained group to begin phase three: solar panels.
A sailor and varsity crew member, Connor is often out on the water. But last spring he embarked on the ocean journey of a lifetime: He joined his mentor, environmental activist Robert Swan, on a sixteen-day awareness-building trip to Antarctica. The trip combined Connor’s interest in marine science—which includes an independent study where he trained an octopus to open a jar to demonstrate its learning ability—with his passion for the environment.
“Finding Connor has been so inspiring to us all,” says Swan. “He is an outstanding young man who really cares about the environment and puts his passion into action.” Connor recorded the trip with photographs and a blog on his website, CBFphotos.com.
Maxwell Simmons, 15
It was clear from age eight that Maxwell was a natural sailor. That’s when he entered his first sailing regatta at Norwalk Yacht Club—and won. “I still remember steering the boat,” he says. “Learning to handle the speed during the race was really exhilarating.”
Maxwell, who lives in Rowayton, sails Optimists, one-person boats for skippers ages eight to fifteen. From the start he enjoyed being in front of the fleet, though there were bumps along the way, including a 150th-place finish at the New England Championships at age ten. Maxwell turned what could have been a devastating disappointment into an aha moment—he decided to devote himself to racing at a higher level. To crank things up, he needed a top-tier coach, and Lucas Calabrese, a former Optimist champion from Argentina, was enlisted to help.
“He is the kind of kid that picks things up quickly,” says Calabrese. “I could see he had talent. But he needed to get beyond the local regattas. His parents were very supportive and we took him to events in Argentina, St. Thomas and Ecuador.”
With world-class instruction and the dream of competing with the U.S. Optimist Team, Maxwell became a year-round sailor at age twelve. The training required weeks away from Brien McMahon high school, weekends racing in Newport and homework in the car—not to mention freezing weather. “I’ve been sailing in 20 degree weather when it’s snowing,” he says.
“I like it until my fingers and toes get numb.”
Last May at U.S. Team Trials, a four-day regatta at Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, it all paid off. On the final day, Maxwell became the No. 1 sailor in the country for Optimists. “It was awesome,” he says. “My coaches threw me in 40 degree water.”
At 15 Maxwell, now a member of the U.S. Optimist Team and a student at the Salisbury School in Salisbury, Connecticut, entered the world sailing scene. He spent the summer racing at the World Championships in Brazil and the North American Championships in the Dominican Republic. But though he’s traveled all over the world, Maxwell is still a regular kid who is happy to return home, jump on his skateboard and cruise with his dog along for the ride.