Birmingham native Dan Rice has always loved theater. From Red Mountain Theatre Company summer camps to Virginia Samford Theatre shows and beyond, Rice is always in the spotlight one way or another.
Rice graduated from The Altamont School in May 2020 without any ceremonies or goodbyes. Despite the pandemic, he was able to attend Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, to study music theater and pursue his dreams. He had a little piece of home only 25 minutes away at Case Western Reserve University: his sister, Mary.
Getting into Baldwin Wallace University was no easy task. Luckily for Rice, he had already set up his auditions for his top two schools during the first semester of his senior year at Altamont: Elon University and Baldwin Wallace University. Rice ended up getting accepted to both, and his decision was difficult.
Rice will be a junior in the fall, still studying at Baldwin Wallace as one of 22 people in the class of 2024 for Music Theatre. During his time at Baldwin Wallace, he’s attended dozens of master classes, specifically those with agents, managers and casting directors, to further his career. He credits the master classes as one reason for the university’s 100% signing rate after graduation.
Another opportunity Baldwin Wallace students have is Summerstocks, in which theaters all over the country come to watch the students audition for each of the shows for the summer months. Rice was selected to perform at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre in Clinton, Iowa. He is in three shows this summer: Sister Act, State Fair, and Wedding Singer. He’ll also have his first leading male role in State Fair, playing Wayne Franke.
After Rice graduates, he does not have a specific plan in mind, although he is leaning toward acting and knows he will move to New York. He aspires to create his own work, so others can see what he does: the presence of humanity, in places it might be overlooked.
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Emma Lembke founded the Log Off Movement in June 2020, less than two months before the start of her senior year of high school at The Altamont School. She found herself addicted to her phone after downloading popular social media applications in the sixth grade. As someone predisposed to mental health struggles, Lembke found herself in limbo.
“I'm allowing these apps to have so much control over me and negatively impact me when I am someone who really values health and well-being,” she said.
The Log Off Movement creates different initiatives to pursue healthier usages of social media, whether that be through her podcast, a team leadership council or her blog. It is a movement run by teenagers, made for teenagers.
Lembke credits GirlSpring, a girl empowerment organization in Birmingham, for successes in her movement, as she modeled Log Off similar to the way GirlSpring runs: creating spaces for different communities to come together and converse.
After graduating in May 2021 from Altamont, Lembke enrolled at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, studying political science and psychology. She is now a rising sophomore and loves the university, as it supports her passion for her work as well as ensures she's a successful student.
Lembke also recently kickstarted a lobbying youth campaign called Tech(nically) Politics, which works to leverage youth storytelling around social media usage — basically, push regulations from a top-down angle against big technology companies.
Lembke has since been featured on CBS News, Jubilee Media via YouTube, MTV, The New York Times and many more outlets for her work and activism with the Log Off Movement. She plans to continue working with the media to reach more viewers and promote more change.
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Nathan Tozzi graduated less than three months ago from Indian Springs School but will not be attending college like many of his peers. Instead, he will be playing soccer for Legion FC, alongside professionals.
Tozzi has played club soccer for over 13 years and high school soccer for four years. In those four years, Tozzi has led the Indian Springs’ Swans to two back-to-back state soccer championship victories, including the winning goal in the championship game in May 2022.
Tozzi was previously on the Birmingham Legion FC Academy team but sparked interest among the coaching staff for a position on the Legion FC first team.
“I am training every single day with the first team. Hopefully, I play good enough so I can get some time on the field,” he said.
After his year at Legion FC, Tozzi plans to enroll in college to further his education and study business, plus continue playing soccer. He has offers from multiple universities but is keeping his options open for now.
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Ayona Roychowdhury has been a Girl Scout since the fifth grade and has dreamed of receiving the Gold Award as most Girl Scouts do. Today, Roychowdhury has officially achieved her goal and received the prestigious award for her project, Teaching Teenagers about Consent and Reproductive Health.
Her project consists of educating teenagers, specifically those in grades six through 12, about consent and healthy relationship education. She was assisted by Safe and Healthy Homewood Coalition, Healing Medical Crisis, The Crisis Center, Strive Counseling and her school district in Homewood. The coronavirus pandemic heavily impacted her project — she was unable to start hospital initiatives, due to COVID-19 restrictions, which ultimately led to lots of changes. Fortunately, she was able to regroup and create resources for the public to use.
In high school, Roychowdhury was a part of GirlSpring, a local girl empowerment organization. She was able to write for GirlSpring and educate young girls through that platform.
Roychowdhury graduated from Homewood High School in May 2021 and is currently enrolled at the University of Alabama at Birmingham studying affecting disease outcomes: neuroimmunology, which is a major she created herself.