2023 Profiles

By Santos Castaneda, Bartlesville High School Zyer Henry believes in brief moments of beauty.  He wants to share that with the world. He discovered his interest in photography in high school. He was with his best friend, Seth, outside after a basketball game. Zyer was looking at the sky, commenting on how he wished he could share this moment with other people. His friend suggested that Zyer should take a photo and post it on Instagram. The post then received 10,000 likes, which fueled him to further pursue his new-found interest in photography.  “I can like turn this into something,” Zyer…

By Kate Menz, Bishop McGuinness High School, Oklahoma City Thalia Henry is not most people’s idea of a typical 17-year old girl.  The high school senior devotes much of her time to her faith, as well as helping others around her, which is what she learned to do growing up going to The Church in Lawton.  “Personally, I hadn’t had that connection with God up until about two years ago,” Thalia said.        Instead of sleeping in on weekends, she wakes up early to teach a four-hour Sunday school class to kindergarteners, which is her way of sharing her connection to…

By Zyer Henry, Lawton MacArthur High School Envision, a path with three crossroads lies in front of you, crossroads that will change the course of your future, for better or worse. Journalism, broadcasting and psychology are these crossroads for Santos Castaneda. A choice that he’s going to need to make within the coming years. Santos, a 16-year-old on the verge of becoming a senior at Bartlesville High School, is undecided on what he may want to major in college, but with the three options that he has decided on, there are plenty of open fields of opportunity.  “I like to…

By Hannah Joo, Norman North High School When tortoises are in their shell, they are safe from predators. Survival forces them to venture past their haven and see the world beyond.  Rylie Lockerman’s shell was constructed with shyness and a lack of connection, which kept her safe from the opinions of others. Passion for the arts and creative pursuits broke her past that shell and brought clarity for her future. At 8 years old, Rylie discovered her passion for theater by joining the Christian Youth Theater in Austin, Texas. She played side roles for the CYT in productions like Music…

By Lucas Mann, Bartlesville High School For five years Madisson Cameron thought she would be dancing for the rest of her life but a straightforward mistake changed all of that. Everyone has biases, ranging from sports teams to what phone you use. As a freshman, Madisson had an implicit bias toward the world of journalism. But after being placed in a broadcast journalism class she was able to evolve a deep passion for creative writing. Shooting for a college major in journalism is not what Madisson originally had in mind. She wanted to dance. At a young age, Madisson took…

By Madisson Cameron, Mustang High School Some people believe in star signs, others believe in fate, but Bartlesville senior Lucas Mann, 17, believes in trying everything he can to soar into his future. Going through phases is a normal part of life. However, not all people see their phases as a list of random skills they’ve learned. Early on, Lucas developed an interest in technology and production, in part of his dad’s do-it-yourself mentality. “When my dad was in the garage working, I would always sit there and watch him or hold the flashlight. It made me want to prove…

By Jeremiah McBurrows, Heritage High School, Frisco, Texas In March 2020, millions of students worldwide were sent home due to COVID-19. The idea of “virtual school” quickly became a concern for many parents, as 55% of parents believe online learning caused their children to fall behind in school, according to USA Today.  While most students saw virtual learning as a temporary fix for a sudden change in circumstance, for Lucas Jackson there was, in his own words, “no switch.” Lucas, 17, isn’t your average high school senior. Having been enrolled in virtual school since seventh grade, his journey has been…

By Houston Williams, Walnut Grove High School, Prosper, Texas Arts are a way that many people escape reality, allowing people the opportunity to live their own words. The arts and the written word are important to Kylee Crisswell, an 18-year-old from Yukon. “I like that you have power in your voice when you perform,” said Kylee, who will be a freshman at Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri this fall for graphic design and creative writing.  She explained that the application process was strange because she had anxiety. Eventually a friend ended up just telling her to send it and…

By Eboni Montgomery, Crowley (Texas) High School What if you changed your whole culture within a couple years? Imagine living with a certain religion your whole life then changing your beliefs because it didn’t fit you or what you wanted to represent yourself as. Keely Betenson, 17, and her family experienced this while living in her small town Bartlesville. She grew up with nine siblings and being the middle child she cooked and cleaned for them. She made a green chili soup that she is proud of and sometimes she comes up with her own recipes and puts her own…

By Ethan Dixon, Frisco (Texas) Heritage High School Kate Menz dreams of a world without fake news.  “That’s probably the most important thing in my life,” Kate Menz said about her family, “My family is a very important part of my life and, I could not imagine doing the things I do every day, even living without the support of my family. Kate’s family history is full of talented journalists and writers stretching from her aunt Mary Kathrine Dyer, who broke barriers for women in journalism becoming one of the first female editors at the Oklahoman, to another aunt Kelly…