By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Jan 31, 2006 at 5:36 AM

At the end of 2005, OnMilwaukee.com asked readers to nominate young Milwaukeeans between the ages of 12 and 18 for a unique contest called "18 Under 18" that recognizes 18 of the city's brightest and most ambitious young people under the age of 18. (Note: two students were nominated at 17 but have since turned 18). Well, the results are in, and OMC is proud to introduce some incredibly cool up-and-comers.

The winners of OnMilwaukee.com's "18 Under 18" Contest (in no particular order):

Sean Clark, 15
Wisconsin Academy of Lifelong Learning
Nominated by: Darrell Finch, educational specialist

"Sean is a student athlete who participates in basketball and football programs after school. He has also been recognized at the last three Highland Park Homes Student Recognition Programs for maintaining a 3.6 to 4.0 grade point average. Sean is enrolled in a summer pre-college program at the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin, called Talent Search. Sean also finds time to give back to his community by volunteering at the Fitzmonds Girls and Boys Club. He has also signed up to be a youth volunteer at Highland Park Homes After School Homework Help Program. He will be assigned to the Neighborhood Networks Computer Lab at Highland Gardens to provide basic computer skills and tutoring to the youth of Highland Park Homes."

Aziz Noon-Abdullah, 14
Riverside High School
Nominated by: Erin K. Noon, mother

"Aziz receives mostly A's at Riverside. He also plays trumpet and baritone in the band and has volunteered at a variety of organizations, including Hunger Task Force, Christopher East Nursing Home, Citizens for Marvin Pratt for Mayor, Peer Mediator and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee. He was also recognized by the Bickham Project, a national youth empowerment initiative, as 'one of this city's young treasures.'"

Jasmine Grant, 16
Wauwatosa West High School
Nominated by: Selena Marris, teacher

"Jasmine is one of the most dedicated aspiring artists I've had the pleasure of working with. She is rarely seen without her sketchbook in hand. My instincts tell me that she will be making a big name for herself in the next 10 years and will make her hometown proud."

Ursula Mylnerek, 16
Riverside High School
Nominated by: Bonnie Brusky

"Ursula continues to display outstanding efforts to regulate military recruiters within public high school limits. She has been working with the ACLU, Peace Action Wisconsin, and several other organizations to get the school board to fight for student rights. The school board has adopted a resolution written by her and another member of the school board to inform parents of their rights when recruiters have access to student information. She has organized rallies, student dialogues and other actions to let her peers be informed."

Maxine Webb, 18
Whitefish Bay High School
Nominated by: Monica Carollo, advisor

"Maxine, who is vice-president of our multi-cultural student organization, AHANA, has connected club activities with the community. Most recently, after seeing a news item on the financial concerns of the Black Holocaust Museum, Maxine, on her own initiative, contacted the director to see how we could help. Maxine arranged a meeting with our officers and the directors of the museum, where it was decided that AHANA would sponsor an all-school fundraising activity to support the museum, along with other activities."

Tom Cramer, 15
Marquette High School
Nominated by: Self

"I started the monthly newspaper 'East Side Thought.' One-thousand copies are printed and circulated to over 20 local businesses. I am the Editor in Chief, Publisher, Journalist and Photographer. It was not easy for me to write this e-mail and nominate myself ..."

Tai Rosa Maldonado, 16
South Milwaukee High School
Nominated by: Heather Sielaff, teacher

"Tai Rosa is involved in numerous school activities, including DECA (a marketing organization in which she has successfully organized over $1000 for the Miracle Minute), Student Senate, varsity cross country and track, as well as other organizations ... in the days immediately following Hurricane Katrina, Tai Rosa single handedly organized a school-wide effort to raise funds/items of necessity for the victims. In all, Tai Rosa (and her fellow students, of course) raised thousands of dollars during these fundraisers."

Jessica Terkel, 16
Waukesha West High School
Nominated by: Amy Anhold and Kate Kubacki, teachers

"Just last Spring, Jessica underwent a kidney and liver transplant after years of illness. During the time in which she was awaiting her transplant, Jessica was in constant discomfort and pain. However, you would never have guessed it due to her outgoing positive nature ... She recently organized a food drive as part of an assignment for her Fine Art Photography class and helped to collect 100 food items to donate to the Waukesha Food Pantry. Jessica has also 'adopted' a 16-year-old girl in need this holiday season and used her own money to purchase Christmas gifts for her."

Jason Muth, 16
Kettle Moraine High School
Nominated by: Tim Muth, father

"Jason recently completed his Eagle Scout project -- a project which involved his noticing that a school in a poor community in El Salvador lacked books. Jason's church has a sister-church relationship with this community, and Jason visited them in 2001. Jason developed a book drive for Spanish language books, collecting both books and donations to give the gift of books to a very needy school in this Central American country."

Kristen Lunde, 14
Pius XI High School
Nominated by: Gordon Lunde, father

"While maintaining a 4.0 grade point average as a freshman at Pius, Kristen also finds time to practice and perform in the Pius Poms team. The team recently finished second in class at the Bucks annual Poms competition as well as the Great America competition last fall ... Our family operates a non-profit organization and Kristen is always willing to help when we travel, with taking donations for our fund raising products, she is also a big help with our annual fund raising auction."

Abbey Buske, 17
Wisconsin Lutheran High School
Nominated by: Mark Buske, father

"Abbey is in a wheelchair (spinal cord atrophy, since birth) and has had to overcome numerous obstacles including surgeries and other medical procedures in her brief life. Not only does Abbey get good grades, she also is playing violin in the Milwaukee Youth Symphony for the sixth year. She lives in West Allis and is considering Minnesota and Michigan State for her further education as she plans to major in Music Therapy and minor in Music Education. She has already received a $1,000 scholarship from the Herb Kohl Foundation for her success in school."

Danielle Harris, 17
Rufus King High School
Nominated by: Shawn Jones, YMCA teen advisor at the Holton YMCA.

"Danielle has held many offices at the YMCA, including treasurer, vice president and currently president. Danielle was unanimously chosen as the 2005 YMCA Teen Achiever of the Year. Danielle is actively involved in many academic and extracurricular activities. She is a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society. She is also a member of the volleyball team and has played the piano for eight years."

Alex Matthew Odya-Weis, 15
Milwaukee High School of the Arts
Nominated by: Cyndie Odya-Weis, mother

"Alex has completed more than 3,500 volunteer hours in the past five years as an actor, singer and dancer in 24-plus community theatre productions and 20-plus concerts in the Milwaukee area. In addition, he has worked professionally at the Fireside Dinner Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Skylight Opera and performed lead roles in two off-Broadway shows in New York City ... He earned a full scholarship to The Milwaukee Ballet Pre-Professional Program in 2005."

Bobby Hamill, 17
Brookfield Central
Nominated by: Marci Pelzer

"Bobby has volunteered at Irish Fest since age five. He is the second youngest of 10 kids, all of whom volunteer every year at the Fest together as a family. Bobby learned to play the bagpipes at age 11 from his sister. He now performs with the Shamrock Club Color Guard and earns money for college playing numerous freelance gigs ... Last fall, Bobby was a part of a group of teens from Irish Fest who planned and executed an entire benefit rock concert for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Bobby acted as treasurer for this very successful event, which featured the jig-punk Prodigals. He and his peers managed every aspect of the concert from picking the band and negotiating its contract to providing security and sweeping up afterwards."

Patrick Schley, 17
Nominated by: Elyse Cohen. First Stage Children's Theater

"Everyone at First Stage Children's Theater is convinced that Patrick Schley will be the company's future executive director. In addition to taking classes, Patrick began to volunteer his help in the Theater Academy office-answering phones, doing data entry, administering to other students coming in the office with headaches... Eventually, word of this "super-kid" in the Academy office spread throughout the rest of the FSCT staff. When the box office needed a hand entering season ticket orders, the Academy sent Patrick its way. When season tickets were to be mailed out, Patrick did one better: he recruited the best and brightest of the Academy teens to volunteer. The mailing went out in record time. His data entry skills soon found their way to the marketing department. Next, the front-of-house staff needed help with concessions sales in the lobby. Patrick, again, was the man of the hour."

Martinez White, 16
Solomon Juneau Business Charter High School
Mark Zimmerman, teacher

"Not only is Martinez a 16-year-old senior, but he also serves as both our school's student council and senior class president. Just recently, Martinez was offered a full scholarship to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In my eyes and the eyes of many others, Martinez is truly considered one of the city's 'cream of the crop"'... Martinez is destined for some truly great things."

Kendra N. Berry, 18
Riverside High School
Pamela McCreary, aunt

"Kendra is a member of the National Honor Society , Early Identification Program, Who's Who Among High School Students, the Riverside University High School Honor Roll and a National American Miss Teen Wisconsin State Finalist. She has also participated on the varsity cheerleading team, student council, varsity track and debate. She serves as a tutor, the teen action council secretary and a N.A.A.A.C.P. youth member. She was recently accepted to both Howard University and Loyola University."

Kyle Taylor Parker, 16
Milwaukee High School of the Arts
Nominated by: Judy Smith, Mojeska Theatre

"Since he was 5 years old, Kyle has sought acting - in Washington DC, in Africa and now in Milwaukee. He's been on stage with First Stage Children's Theatre and Milwaukee High School of the Arts. But his real impact is at the Modjeska Youth Theatre, where Kyle is a mentor, director, playwright and choreographer to the Youth Theatre's cast of students ages six to 20 years old. Last summer, his original script Urban Sound Underground was performed at the Modjeska with 20 youth. Since this summer, Kyle has now turned his talents in directing and working with youth to choreographing the three Modjeska Youth Theatre Company performances. As a paid apprenticeship, Kyle worked with the 65 youth who were cast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast performed in November by the Modjeska."


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.