April Teens of the Month
Hardin County Kenton Elks Teenagers of the Month for April are (from left, front to back) Ava Martin and Tessa Griffith of Ada High School, Kaylee McCoy of Hardin Northern and Chelsea Jordan of Upper Scioto Valley, Sadie Larrabee and Cameron Jesionowski of Kenton, and Breann Vermillion and Aidan Hanson of Ridgemont. A related story is on page three.
The Kenton Elks recently honored eight Teenagers of the Month for April from Hardin County Schools. They are:
Ada
Contessa “Tessa” Griffith lives in Findlay and is the daughter of Tara and Ted Griffith. She is a senior at Ada High School. After graduation she plans on attending The Ohio State University or the Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) of Ohio State, majoring in agricultural business or agricultural communications.
Her work experience has included babysitting, detasseling corn and raising dairy beef feeders.
Tessa’s community service has included helping Keep Hardin County Beautiful at the fairgrounds, ringing the bell for donations for the Salvation Army, the Hardin County Junior Fair Board and a concession stand worker.
Her school involvement has included being a volleyball and softball athlete, Fellowship of Christian Athletes member, Ada honor roll, FFA member where she was honored twice for having gold rated treasurer books by Ohio FFA, was awarded her State FFA Degree in May of 2024, raising and showing beef feeders at the Hardin County Fair (2017-2024), Grand Champion Dairy Beef Feeder (2021), public speaking and livestock judging competitions. In addition, she has been a member of Language Club, Ada Mental Health Alliance, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Dogs volunteer and Film Club.
She is the 2025 class treasurer and a member of the National Honor Society.
Outside of school, Tessa has participated in club volleyball and travel soccer, member of 4-H and Girl Scouts, and Harvest and Herb Queen.
For leadership roles, she participated in Buckeye Girls State and was her city’s treasurer, has served as treasurer and secretary of Ada FFA and is the 2025 class treasurer for Ada High School.
Ava Martin is the daughter of Kara Martin and Brock Martin of Ada and a senior at Ada High School. She plans on applying to attend several universities and auditioning to get into the music program. She plans to pursue a career in music education.
She has worked part-time for East of Chicago Pizza since December of 2023 and plants to continuing working there until she leaves for college.
Her community service has involved joining the Sustainability Club at Ada High School. The club had a goal of bringing recycling back to the school and planting a flower garden to attract pollinators. To raise money they held a big garage sale in the gym and were able to support their projects.
Ava’s school involvement has included participating in marching band (9-12), Sustainability Club (11,12), quiz bowl (11,12), film club (12).
Her non-school involvement was her participation in the Sustainability Club. Members received permission to pick up trash around the town during school hours which took place on Earth Day last year.
For leadership roles, Ava is a student leader in the marching band and she helps students that may be struggling with their music.
Hardin Northern
Kaylee McCoy is the daughter of Stephanie McCoy and Mathew McCoy of Dunkirk and a senior at Hardin Northern and Apollo Career Center. After graduation she plans on going into the Air Force while getting a degree in biological engineering at Kent State or Ohio Northern.
Her work experience includes McDonald’s and Gabes. She is currently working for the You Care Adult Habilitation Center.
For community service, Kaylee had many volunteeriing opportunities while in FFA such as at the fair, in Dunkirk of at the FFA’s chicken barbecue. They also helped with the beautification of the new HN football field. She also volunteered to redesign the sources of strength posters and HOSA coloring pages at Apollo Career Center.
Her school involvement included History Brigade, Book Club, Junior/high school choir, FFA, Sources of Strength and National Honor Society. At Apollo, she won the logo competition in print and graphics and her design was picked for the 2024-2025 student handbook.
Outside of school, Kaylee was involved in the Lima Astronomical Society (11,12)
Kenton
Sadie Larrabee is the daughter of Deanna Larrabee of Kenton and a senior at Kenton High School. After graduation she plans on attending Edison State Community College in Piqua where she will play women’s basketball and obtain a degree in business.
Her work experiences include working a summer job as a farm hand at a local hog farm. She also worked another summer job helping an elderly man clean his home and surrounding areas.
In the community, Sadie helped a bouncy castle company run the kids zone at the Dayton Air Show (2021-2024), assisted with the Northwest Ohio Girls Basketball Youth Leader (2021-2025), helped the Rotary Club dip ice cream at the Hardin County Fair (2023-2024) and helped distribute food through the local Food Bank.
Her school involvement included varsity volleyball and basketball (9-12), National Honor Society (11,12), JROTC (9-12) as a battalion commander, drill team commander and Outstanding Cadet Award. She was in band (9-12) where she was a section leader and recipient of the Orian Award.
Outside of school, Sadie has been an attendant at Forest United Methodist Church (11,12) and equine 4-H for seven years.
Her leadership roles have included Battalion Commander, Drill Team Commander, Section Leader and varsity captain in both volleyball and basketball.
Cameron Jesionowski lives in Kenton and is the son of Karen Clark. He is a senior at Kenton High School. After graduation he plans on attending a college and getting a degree in criminal justice to eventually become a State Highway Patrolman.
In work experience, he worked part-time at Walmart for a short time, before starting work at Arby’s from 2023 to the present.
In the community, Cameron was a doorman during “Youth Takeover) at New Hope Church in August of 2024 and helped serve Easter Sunday breakfast at New Hope in March 2024. He cleaned toys for Love INC with his track team in 2023 and sold 50/50 tickets for his sports teams in 2023-2024.
His school activities have included high school soccer and track (9-12) and a letter winner in both, high school chorale (10-12), Kenton News Network (12) and Top 20 crew (12).
Outside of school, Cameron was in the New Hope Church youth group for one year.
In leadership roles, he was a KHS boys soccer team captain (2024).
Ridgemont
Breann Vermillion is the daughter of Trisha and Jason Vermillion of Kenton and a junior at Ridgemont High School who is graduating in May of 2025. After graduation she plans on attending the University of Findlay to pursue a pre-veterinary degree, eventually becoming a veterinarian specializing in large animal care.
Her work experience includes babysitting in the summers of 2023 and 2024, and farm work (223-present).
Breann’s community services has included being a 4-H mentor from 2021 to the present to provide guidance and support to younger 4-H members, and FFA service projects (2022-present) where she participated in events such as roadside cleanups, food drives and other educational outreach programs.
Her school involvement has included FFA (9-11), National Honor Society and College Credit Plus.
Outside of school, Breann has been in a dog 4-H club for six years, showed livestock for eight years and provided elderly housing care for three years.
For leadership roles, she has served as an FFA reporter from 2024 to the present and was a 4-H treasurer in 2023.
Aidan Hanson is the son of Kate Hanson and Scott Hanson of Ridgeway. He is a
senior at Ridgemont High School and after graduation he plans on attending Ohio Northern University to study computer engineering.
His work experience has involved serving as a custodian at Ridgemont public libraries from 2023 to the present.
Aidan’s community service has included Hardin County Junior Fair Board (2023-2024) and Hardin County 4-H camp counselor (2022-present).
His school involvement has included high school band, FFA and Ridgemont track and field (all 9-12).
Outside of school, he has been a 4-H member for eight years.
His leadership roles have included band president and FFA treasurer (both 2024-2025).
Upper Scioto Valley
Chelsea Jordan is the daughter of Junell and Jay Jordan of McGuffey and a senior at Upper Scioto Valley/Ohio Hi-Point Career Center. After graduation she plans to attend college to earn a degree in sonography/ultrasound.
Her work experience has included Yankee’s Dairy Queen (2024) and USV Junior High assistant cheer coach (2024-present).
In the community, Chelsea has participated in sophomore experience days at Ohio High Point, summer camp in 2024 teaching children ways to stay active, handout out candy at Trunk or Treat, participated in Relay for Life and Cardboard City.
Her school involvement has included Business Professionals of America, FFA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, HOSA, football and basketball cheer, volleyball, track and field, and student council.
Outside of school, Chelsea has been involved in church for 18 years and participated in the McGuffey anniversary festival and handed out snow cones.
Her leadership roles have included FFA and class treasurer, class leader, HOSA leader, football and basketball cheerleading captain and volleyball captain.
