Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/89420
Katie Woosley 18, Christian Academy, senior Ben Rice 17, Kentucky Country Day, senior Ben works with the Northwest Youth Corps. Last year he was one of 40 people chosen for the Backcountry Leadership Program. Tell us about your involvement with national parks. I went out West by myself for six weeks and worked all over Oregon. Twelve of us went out and made trails or whatever we needed to do. We took down barbwire fences. You built your own computer? It's really pretty simple. It's like a large Lego set but more expensive. Everything just goes in a certain slot. It can be kind of a headache, but I think it's worth it. I can use the Internet and play games. The director of the Governor's Scholars Program nominated Katie for this story out of some 1,000 students. She's also an all- state violist. College? Oh, the question of the year. Thanks to the Governor's Scholars Program, I'm looking into UK and Western, U of L. Also, Vanderbilt. Do you play viola at your school? Yes, I'm the principal violist and have been since eighth grade. We do chamber and symphonic orchestra. I also play in a quartet. What about your study habits? I have to say that, though I work hard, it does come natural to me. I hope that doesn't sound prideful. But I cannot let myself settle. I have to go above and beyond. Reagan Roy 14, duPont Manual, freshman Siblings Reagan and Madison Roy have written, illustrated and published two books — Petethra's Secret and Flower: A Girl With Leukemia — raising some $9,000 to fight leukemia and sickle-cell disease. Do you get to see how this has helped people? Occasionally. For sickle cell, we've had people come up and say thank you to us. What do you want to be when you grow up? A cardiologist or anesthesiologist. So you were class president? I wanted to see if I could win, I guess. I was like, "We can fix this and this here." What's your favorite subject? Journalism. Katherine Santos 15, Sacred Heart Academy, sophomore A competitive mountain biker, Katherine ranks fourth nationally in cyclocross. What is cyclocross like? My coach says it takes all of your worst fears and puts them in one race. Give us an idea of what happens in cyclocross. You go as hard as you possibly can for about 40 minutes without stopping. It's a mixture of mountain and road biking. You go on grass and over barriers and up stuff. How long do you want to bike competitively? Forever. Favorite food? Spaghetti. We get to eat that every night before a race. It's awesome. Ellery Payne 15, Jeffersontown, sophomore Madison Roy 10, St. Raphael, fifth grade Who inspires you? My mom and Taylor Swift. What inspired you to write these books? We saw these kids who have this dreaded disease and wanted to help them. What do you want to be when you grow up? A kindergarten teacher. It's fun to interact with little kids. Favorite subject? Math, music, science, spelling, P.E. It has to be (P.E.) because I just love running. Ellery is in Project Lead the Way, an engineering program at his school. Every year since fifth grade he has won a medal in math at Governor's Cup. His GPA is 4.125. What interested you in engineering? When I was younger I would play with Legos, put things together and solve problems. What's something you want to see created? I want to be able to take a bunch of bacteria and microbes that eat certain materials to break down garbage and landfills. What do you do outside of school? I do Quick Recall. Last year we had T-shirts that said, "I'm not a genius; I just know a lot." Do you like to read? Oh God, I hate reading. 11.12 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE [75]