About
Turning Students into Statesmen
Turning Students into Statesmen
Looking forward to another season with TeenPact, Paul Holley from Commerce Georgia, is excited to see what the Lord has in store for the '07 season. Paul's desire is to watch students grow in their knowledge and excitement about government and its role in our lives. Even more than seeing students grow in knowledge about government, Paul is anxious to see students grow deeper in their relationship with Christ during the TeenPact events. In his spare time Paul enjoys photography and someday hopes to be a photojournalist for National Geographic. He enjoys traveling and seeing new places that hold a whole new realm of excitement. Paul also takes pleasure in leading worship any time the opportunity presents itself. Paul is honored to be serving with TeenPact for another season and is greatly anticipating great things out of 2007!
Jonathan Morris hails from the beautiful upstate of South Carolina, where he lives with his family of seven. Jonathan enjoys hiking, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and just about anything that involves being outdoors. Another of his favorite pastimes is acting, having appeared on stage in more than 15 dramatic productions since 1999. He has been involved with TeenPact for more than five years, and is excited about the opportunity God has given him to yet again travel and serve with the ministry.
Boe is a longtime TeenPacter having participated in over 32 state classes and numerous alumni events. He is excited to be working with TeenPact for another year. Boe was born in Colorado raised in Wyoming, and is now proud to call Texas home. He enjoys almost all extreme sports especially rappelling, ultimate Frisbee and extreme racquetball. Boe is going to be a 2nd year college student at Abilene Christian University in central Texas where he studies International Relations and comparative politics. Boe is also studying psychology and French, and hopes to be able to use that working for the government overseas. Boe is always up for a good debate and can spend endless hours talking about movies and science fiction.
Elijah Ammen is the second oldest of 5 children and was born in Missouri, raised in Arizona, and finally settled down in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. His political activism was first sparked at the age of 12 when he attended the Geoff Davis for Congress Madison Project. This interest has continued through 7 different Student Project campaigns, including the Perdue Student Project which he had the privilege of Program Directing this past fall. Through his involvement in Student Project, he learned about TeenPact, and has been involved since the Virginia 2003 state class. Elijah is excited about this amazing opportunity to get students involved in their government. TeenPact has indelibly affected his life, and he is glad that he is able to share his passion for civic involvement with all the students he meets this year. Some other things that Elijah enjoys are reading, creative writing, filmmaking, and coffee.
Kiana was born and raised in the beautiful, tropical state of Hawaii. However, she now resides in Cumming, Georgia, and is proud to call the South her home. Kiana is the daughter of Jeff and HeiDee Bieber and the oldest of five childern. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, sewing, music, photography, traveling, and spending time with her friends and family. After TeenPact, Kiana hopes to pursue a career in pediatric speech pathology. Kiana got her first taste of politics in 2004 where she attended her first Student Project. Since 2004 she has participated in 7 Student Projects. She has been involved in TeenPact since 2005 and has fallen in love with the vision and ministry of TeenPact. Kiana is excited about the coming year and looks forward to experiencing all that God has for her in this season.
Hailing from the Hoosier Heartland of Indiana, Tori Bontreger, has enjoyed living in the lovely Midwest with her parents and two siblings her entire life. She is privileged to work with her family at her father's self-employed commercial art business, and to serve in her local church using her vocal talents on the worship team. Passionately serving and impacting those around her, where God has placed her right now, is Tori's main objective and desire for everyday. In addition to her involvement with TeenPact, she very much enjoys putting her creative juices to work through scrapbooking projects, photography, art, and drama. Being politically active on campaigns is also something she finds important, and has enjoyed giving her time to do over the past many years. Tori is eager to learn and grow both in knowledge and wisdom, and seeks to utilize every moment that presents such opportunities. Her ultimate future aspirations are to be who and where God has called her to be, the details of which she is still wholeheartedly seeking, and to go down that path with abandon. But for now, she's thrilled to be serving as an intern and is excited for what this season with TeenPact will hold.
Recently back in the sweltering city of Phoenix, Arizona, Annie Cottrell is going into her seventh year of involvement in TeenPact. Ever since her first State Class in 2001, she has grown more actively involved over the years, acting as the personal assistant to Tim Echols last spring. Annie loves the relationships she has developed through TeenPact with people from all over the country, along with the opportunity to minister to and learn from others. She has been worked on numerous campaigns in various states, the most recent being a Representative race in Indiana. Outside of politics, Annie enjoys photography, law, writing, film and music; A self proclaimed book addict, she reads every spare moment with interests ranging from Language and Art to World History and Great Literature. Annie is seeking God's direction for her future, but wants to work with youth in some way. With four precious siblings and two loving parents supporting her at home, she is grateful for God's abundant blessings and grace in her life. Annie looks forward to giving back to TeenPact everything that it has given to her.
Kelly Gebert (Jr.) is proud to claim Ohio as his place of residence. Born and raised in Westerville, the thing he enjoys most about living there is that, although he lives right smack in the middle of the state, he can see the surrounding states due to the flatness of the Midwest. The second oldest of eight kids, Kelly is trying (and succeeding) in showing his family the vast superiority of Macs. The summer finds him camping, canoeing, working, or in the gym. In the fall and winter, Kelly enjoys working on political campaigns, (though nine out of ten times he would rather eat dinner with a Michigan football player than with a politician) and snowboarding. Though the hills are small in Ohio, snowboarding taught him that life is a lot like snowboarding. The trip down the hill is short, so don't waste it because there's no ski lift to take you back and give you another shot; and the life hill has two trails down, and one doesn't end as pleasant as the other. He also enjoys music, fashion and writing. Kelly has worked for the last several years as a professional pizza designer and creator at his Aunt's Italian restaurant, and is looking forward to trading his sauce stained work shirts and lousy fake Italian accent for a suit and tie with TeenPact. After being involved in TeenPact four years, Kelly is pleased to be able to serve you and the ministry this year.
Sarah Hines hails from the beautiful desert state of Arizona. She is blessed with an amazing family, who are also her best friends. Sarah has thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of being involved with TeenPact for the past four years, and has seen God use the ministry to spiritually and personally grow many people, including herself. Over the past year, Sarah has enjoyed learning more about the inner goings-on of government through working at her state Senate. During her free time, she loves four-wheeling, dance, being outdoors, and hanging out with her family and friends. Sarah is very excited to have the opportunity to serve the TeenPact students, and can't wait to see what God has in store for this season!
Haylee Linduff, born and raised in Central Florida, tries to make the most of every minute of life. She is passionate about using each opportunity that comes her way to impact others' lives with her love for Christ. Haylee has been involved in many projects which have changed her community, her state, and her country including starting a community service club, working for a foster care program, Harvest Food Bank, environmental programs and volunteering at a children's home. Political activism has always played a part in Haylee's life – from her first experience at age 5 passing out literature to staffing a recent student project for President Bush. She understands the value of each person's contribution to the political process and the unique opportunity that today's Christian young people have to be a conservative voice in a liberal world. Haylee also enjoys outdoor activities (including hang-gliding and river rafting), plays the drums in a worship band and is learning to play mandolin. She loves spending time with friends and family and especially playing with her nephew Iain. Through working for what she believes in, Haylee has learned that nothing can be done half-heartedly but that everything she does should be done as unto the Lord. Haylee is excited about this opportunity to work with TeenPact, to guide and interact with the students, and to encourage them as they impact their country and their world.
Brent Melvin is a life-long resident of Florida, who hails from the beautiful city of Marianna. He is the second oldest of 7 children and was first introduced to TeenPact in 2002. Since then he has enjoyed all of the alumni events and classes he has been privileged to attend, including a bid for TeenPact President in 2006. Besides TeenPact, Brent also enjoys football, hunting, and working hard with his friends. He is currently enrolled at Chipola College and plans to transfer to the University of Florida to study civil engineering. Brent is excited about the upcoming year and all of the awesome opportunities it presents.
"Oooooklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain," more specifically, Edmond, Oklahoma is where Bryn Piper calls home. Bryn caught TeenPact fever in 2002 while reluctantly sitting in on one of her brother's sessions, and has been enthusiastically involved in one way or another ever since. Her recent involvement has included staffing various state classes, staffing Christ to the Capitol, and being state coordinator. As her passion in serving grew, she volunteered for Dr. Tom Coburn's senatorial campaign. Last summer she traveled as a staff counselor for Worldview Academy. Bryn's other loves include dancing, traveling, playing piano, camping and enjoying other outdoor adventures. Her favorite food is ice cream, but she can often be found, cup of java in hand, at any local coffee house engaged in passionate conversation. Anticipating the 2007 season, Bryn envisions TeenPact youth developing a passion to become active in community, as well as building an intimate relationship with Christ.
Currently residing in Jefferson GA, Jared Solid enjoys investing his time in activities with his family and friends. His interests include graphic design, music, and extreme outdoor activities. Music is a key instrument that God has used in Jared's life. As Jared embarks on the road next season, he goes with a grateful heart towards his fun-loving parents who have invested so much in preparing him for life. Jared's one older brother is responsible for the TeenPact Survival program, and continues to support Jared as he serves as an intern next season. Through service opportunities such as leading worship at local events, teaching children during outdoor programs, and heading up the worship program for the children's ministry at his church, the Lord has strengthened his relationship with Christ tremendously. He seeks a heart of sincere worship. Grateful for his involvement with TeenPact since 2000, Jared looks forward to continued participation in a program that has profoundly impacted his life.
Aaron Tifft, the Texas Okie, was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Throughout the last half of his life, he has been in what he calls a "Modern Nomadic" stage, moving seven times, living in Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and the place he now proudly calls home; San Antonio, Texas. Aaron is the oldest of four, has one sister (Kati), and two brothers (Nathan and Reagan). He was home schooled K-12 and attended his first TeenPact class in Oklahoma. He has also attended classes in Arkansas and Texas. Aaron says he was, "scared and painfully shy until being pushed out of my comfort zone and encouraged to learn and experience as much as possible." Outside of TeenPact, Aaron has done work on several different political campaigns. He worked for Jim Talent in his Senate win in Missouri, President Bush in Florida, Nathan Macias for the Texas House, and Tim Harris for the Indiana legislature. He also worked in Washington DC to support Justice Samuel Alito during his confirmation hearings. In addition to politics, Aaron enjoys drama, music, playing soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, and Bible studies with friends. Aaron is both honored and excited at the opportunity to serve the TeenPact ministry by being an intern.
