Granville Class of 2023 dream of Broadway, sports success, living abroad, helping others

The Granville High School class of 2023 has big dreams.

These Blue Aces dream of starring roles on Broadway, helping others with mental health challenges, becoming doctors, living abroad and so much more.

The Advocate spoke with six Granville graduating seniors about their high school years and their plans after tossing their graduation caps on May 28.

Cory Hammond has Broadway dreams

Cory Hammond hopes to one day see his name in lights —so much so that he's graduating after just three years of high school to get a head start on his dream.

As a toddler, he was always dancing around his family's living room, so his parents enrolled him in classes at Patty's Dance Center in Newark, where he's been dancing for 14 years.

"I loved it. I never wanted to leave. It was a countdown every week from when I'd be able to go back," Cory said.

He continued to excel, signing with an agent by the time he was 13 years old.

Cory also joined Tremaine Dance Conventions, a Los Angeles-based group that hosts instructional conventions. He has traveled the country as a demonstrator for the group, helping instruct dancers from ages 3 to 60. He's even appeared on a "Good Morning America" Halloween special when he was just an eighth grader.

But even with all of those commitments, Cory has been active in the arts at Granville High School. Cory was a part of symphonic choir and acapella singing groups. And if that wasn't enough, he was one of the leads in this spring's production of "Chicago: Teen Edition."

He plans on majoring in musical theater at New York City's Pace University this fall.

Cory said he's known he wanted to pursue a professional dance career since those early days at Patty's when he overheard another parent say he was going to be on Broadway someday.

"I didn't even know what Broadway was but I was like, 'I am going to be on Broadway someday.' I think it was just then that I heard the words 'Broadway' and I just wanted to be in it," he said.

Abby Sanders travels to Poland, Israel for profound experience

This spring, Abby Sanders walked where thousands of her Jewish ancestors walked before as a way to remember them and celebrate the life she now leads.

She traveled to Poland and Israel for the International March of the Living, an annual educational program that brings people from across the globe to Poland and Israel to study the history of the Holocaust.

Alongside nearly 10,000 other Jewish teens from the U.S., France, Argentina, and other countries, Abby spent a week in Poland meeting Holocaust survivors and visiting the former Warsaw ghetto and Auschwitz concentration camp. As part of the trip, thousands walked the nearly 2-mile path leading from Auschwitz to Birkenau as a tribute to 6 million lives lost.

"I've learned about the Holocaust my whole life being in Jewish synagogue and stuff, but it was very different being actually there. It just felt much more real," Abby said. "Just being able to see these things makes it very powerful for sure. Something I would never forget."

The trip also included a stop in Israel that featured another similar march to celebrate Jewish life.

While the march in Poland was somber, it also had a feeling of power to reclaim a place that had seen so much harm, she said.

"It's also just this feeling of like, I'm back here and I'm alive and I'm proud to be Jewish and that sense of, like, pride of being back in those places with just so many people," she said. "Our ancestors weren't able to leave there on their own free will, but we were. We were able to walk out."

Abby has visited Israel four times, including an Israel study abroad program from January to May 2022 with nearly 50 other North American Jewish students. Along with their general courses, Abby said, she took classes about Jewish history and the Hebrew language. Outside of the classroom, the group traveled around the country and did volunteer work.

It was a chance for Abby to be more independent, and the extended stay prepared her more for college, she said. It was also a change to go from being one of the only Jewish kids at Granville to being surrounded by others who share her faith.

"Being in a place where we were all Jewish is a very comforting feeling," she said. "I'm hoping to move to Israel after college, and so it helped sort of solidify those feelings of being able to do that."

Abby plans to major in chemical engineering and minor in Hebrew at the University of Maryland. She's already planning return trips to Israel through study abroad and internship programs.

"To me, I feel very safe there and almost, like, safer there than I do here," she said. "It's just I feel much more comforted and at home there than I do here."

Ella Johnson overcomes health struggles to lead cross country, track teams

Running is more than just a form of exercise for Ella Johnson; it's a passion.

Even before she could join Granville's cross country and track teams in seventh grade, she already had been active in an afterschool running club. She said she loves the connection she's built with her teammates, and that she finds peace in the sport.

"It's something that brings me joy, which is kind of funny because I know most people probably would not agree with that," Ella said with a laugh.

But that joy was interrupted her sophomore year when issues with her heart forced Ella to stop running and competing for about a year. She said it was difficult being separated from the community that was a core part of her life.

That led to her getting more involved with other school activities, such as the Interact Club, Rotary International's service club for young people, of which she was already a member. She went on to become the club's co-president. Ella said the group has volunteered with the Columbus Ronald McDonald House and Newark's St. Vincent Haven and Look Up Center.

"We've held different drives and donated food. It's been a really cool opportunity and even just being able to grow the club and see more students get involved to be able to make an impact is really cool," she said.

Ella said she relied on her faith, family and friends as she navigated through her health issues. Whenever she could, she'd attend meets to cheer on her teammates.

"That just gave me hope that I'd be back with them at some point," she said.

Last spring Ella made her slow return to the team, and spent months training in preparation for the fall cross country season. Her work paid off and her 13th place finish lead to the program’s second state championship in November.

As she caps her high school career, Ella said she hopes to reach the state meet for track as well.

Ella is following her love of running all the way to Texas's Baylor University, where she'll be a member of both the cross country and track teams. She plans on majoring in exercise science, with the goal of eventually becoming a physical therapist.

Caed Myles has traveled world as competitive skier

As a skier, Caed Myles is no stranger to fear. In fact, he loves it.

"If you're able to do something you're afraid of, it will make you feel good," he said.

Caed started skiing at just 4 years old and grew more interested in the sport while his family lived in Alaska during his father's military service.

Slowly over time, he's taken skiing more seriously. He is now a competitive slopestyle skier, meaning he skis down a course that includes rails, jumps and other features and is judged based on the originality and quality of his tricks. Caed is also a big air skier, which is similar but involves just one large jump instead of multiple ones.

Despite serious injuries, such as a collapsed lung and a number of broken bones, Caed's love of skiing hasn't waivered. He has set of goal of making the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team, and so much of his life revolves around reaching that target.

Caed spent the past two spring semesters living in Utah, where he is a member of a Park City-based competitive ski team. He took online classes to ensure he could graduate on time with his Granville classmates, who he's been with since moving to the district in middle school.

He's traveled to Colorado, California and Canada for competitions and training. Last fall, he attended a four-week training camp in New Zealand with other young athletes from a Canadian ski team.

Caed said New Zealand was one of his favorite experiences of all the places he's visited. He explored mountains and lakes and bonded with fellow athletes over disc golf during his extended stay.

He doesn't take all the travel for granted.

"It's important to keep a balance of, like, being motivated and I guess wanting more but also being able to appreciate the small things and where you're at," he said.

He's returning to Utah, where the U.S. national team is based, for college at the University of Utah, so he can still pursue skiing.

Emery Johnson to study psychology, help others work through mental health challenges

Emery Johnson know first-hand what it's like to struggle with her physical and mental health, and she wants to do her part to others through similar experiences.

Emery contracted Lyme disease after a tick bite on her hand while attending an outdoor summer day camp in 2012. But her family did not realize that at the time, and she wasn't diagnosed until nearly a year and half later. In that time, Emery said she became a different person. She was in a constant brain fog, was irritable and had pain all over her body.

She saw several different doctors before finally getting the Lyme disease diagnosis from Cincinnati Children's Hospital doctors. By that point, the Lyme disease had caused juvenile idiopathic arthritis all over Emery's body.

She frequently traveled to Cincinnati to see a rheumatologist and took two shots a week to treat the arthritis.

Thanks to the care she finally received, Emery said both the Lyme disease and arthritis are now in remission. She's since stopped the shots and only visits a doctor occasionally for checkups.

Emery said she saw a psychiatrist throughout her treatment to monitor her mental health while she was on strong prescriptions. At the time, she said, she didn't have any issues with her mental health but in the last year that changed as she dealt with the stress of maintaining good grades and preparing for college. She was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, though she said she is now managing both well.

Because of her own experiences, Emery will study psychology at Ohio State's main campus in the fall. She plans to eventually work in psychiatry because she knows it's needed, as some people wait months to see a therapist.

"I know it's so needed but also because I have that experience where I know what it feels like to be at rock bottom," she said. "I think it's kind of the perfect setup to be able to understand and put myself in someone's shoes and help them."

Sam Sidhu opening up after move from India

Starting at a new school can be difficult for anyone, but Sam Sidhu faced extra challenges when she arrived at Granville High School in the fall of 2020.

Sam, who has dual citizenship, arrived from India at the start of her sophomore year. Her parents stayed in India with her younger brother while Sam came to live her grandparents, get a good education and work at the family's Heath restaurant, Bombay Garden.

The COVID-19 pandemic made Sam's adjustment to her new home even more challenging as everyone was wearing masks during the 2020-21 school year. Sam said she struggled to make friends in an environment where many of her peers had been classmates for years and already had their friend groups.

"It's hard on me, too, because I'm not the first one who always goes up to people and be like, 'Hi!' I'm not that kind of person. I just sit somewhere and just be quiet, so it was really hard," she said.

Through it all she's preserved. During her junior year, she made it her mission to make friends and bonded with Nia Jacques, who was new to the U.S. and Granville after fleeing Haiti in 2021.

"I've been more confident in going up to people and speaking," she said.

The high school counseling staff has helped a lot, she said, holding a birthday party for her and even organizing a graduation party.

"This year it's been so much better having so much help by my counselors. They're doing everything that they could do," she said.

Sam is heading to Ohio State University's main campus this fall as a pre-med student but she's not sure exactly what aspect of the medical field she wants to pursue. She said was inspired by her mother, who worked as nurse in the U.S. before returning to India.

"It's their dream too," she said.

mdevito@gannett.com

740-607-2175

Twitter: @MariaDeVito13

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Granville '23 grads dream of Broadway, helping others, sports success