June 2, 2010

Madeline Chais grew up in the privileged world of private school where pretty much everything she wanted, she got. Then in sixth grade, while volunteering to organize a book drive at the John Thomas Dye School, Chais learned about the abominably low literacy rates at public schools throughout Los Angeles. That same week, she helped mobilize 300 students to collect more than 8,000 books, which were then distributed to needy schools through the nonprofit organization Bookends.

Jesse Tohl played the Persian peddler Ali Hakim in his school’s production of “Oklahoma!” this spring. What makes that fact remarkable is that Tohl was born with oral apraxia and dysarthria, conditions in which facial muscles that control speech do not function properly.

Most kids have a “why” phase, but Harrison Tasoff’s was both particularly intense and long lasting.

At age 12, most kids have plenty to worry about with social pressures, schoolwork and extracurricular activities. For Sheva Gralnik, age 12 also marked the time that her life changed forever.

It is almost pointless to ask Jeffrey Kessler what he does in his free time because it is hard to imagine he would have any. Sure, he takes time to sleep, but very reluctantly.