Garden Spot High School

Stephanie Harner

11th Grade

Stephanie Harner, an 11th grader at Garden Spot high school, shows her love for creativity and those around her through each moment they spend with her. In school she enjoys the more artistic classes and has taken as many as her schedule will allow. Art has always been her favorite way to express herself whether this be with drawings, paintings, or her clothing. She notes that through Highschool she has learned to cherish and appreciate the friendships she has made along the way. Outside of school she spends as much time as she can with her loved ones: both family and friends. When she is not working away on a project or listening to music, she can be found at her bakery job where she expresses her love for all things baking. Steph would like the world to be a kinder place for all the creatures in it. If she had the chance to change one thing about the current state of the world, she would change how people treat one another. Using art as her way of expression, a big part of her life is how much she has accomplished on a personal level. She grows to be a better person with every day, and she prides herself with knowing there is always room to grow but its okay to acknowledge how far you’ve come from your roots. A big part of this mindset stems from her biggest role model, her mother, Tina Harner. Steph admires how strong her mom is and how she always strives to pick herself and others up. Steph sees a great deal of independence in her mom, and this shows through Steph’s ability to always be herself even when it isn’t the easiest of tasks, something her mom has taught her. Steph’s caring and artistic nature leads her to careers in fine arts or maybe a path in psychiatry: an outlet for her kindness. While Steph is not sure what path she will choose, there is no doubt in the minds of her friends that she will put her whole heart into whatever she does decide to do, and whatever that is will be lucky to have such a wonderful person choose their profession.

Written by: Halligan Upton

Hope Monderewicz

Senior

Hope Monderewicz is a senior at Garden Spot High School and her favorite element of school is the social aspect it provides her. She enjoys spending time with friends and connecting with new people, making new friendships. She exercises her social traits in the many extracurriculars and clubs she participates in and her favorite class, 3D art. She serves as the secretary of the Class of 2022, the yearbook Co-President, a captain of the cheerleading team, a member of National Honor Society, and participated in Color Guard. When Hope has free time, she enjoys working on the yearbook while watching movies on Netflix. During the weekends, you can find Hope working the Consignment Center at Fashion Cents located in Ephrata, or, on Sundays, at Petra Church volunteering with the babies, or Sunday evenings, at Christian Fellowship Church’s youth group learning about Christ. Some of Hope’s hobbies include spending time with her family, friends, reading her Bible, and catching up on her favorite shows. She also enjoys furthering her knowledge in cheerleading. Hope plans to attend Mansfield University and aspires to be a Labor and Delivery Nurse. She enjoys spending time with the babies and hopes to have a family of her own one day. One of Hope’s proudest moments is her acceptance to her dream college, Mansfield University, and acceptance into their highly competitive nursing program. Hope admires her mother and her unconditional love, pure happiness, and infinite kindness. Hope’s aspiration is to change people’s attitudes towards each other. The lack of respect for oneself and others saddens her, but she knows people can change. She strives to help people come together, communicate, and understand that though we may be different, we are all the same in the eyes of God and that His unconditional love is all that matters.

Written by: Amanda Wolfe

Valerie Martin

Sophomore

Valerie Martin is a sophomore at Garden Spot High School. She strives to be a light to her peers in school and in extracurricular activities. Over her years at Garden Spot, the community is what gave her the excitement to come to school in the mornings. In fact, math is her favorite subject in school because of the close relationships she built within the class. Valerie is involved in many extracurricular activities, including volleyball, track, FCA, youth group, and holds a part-time job at Yoder’s Country Market. She enjoys every opportunity she gets to be outdoors, whether it’s hiking, going for a run, kayaking, and even cliff jumping with her older brothers! She grinned and stated, “If my three older brothers can cliff jump, so can I.” Valerie is a member of Weaverland Anabaptist Faith community where she offers her time helping with the Weaverland day camp in the summer. In fact, her greatest accomplishment is teaching young kids about the word of God and sharing her faith with them. Valerie has a loving heart for the people who never heard the word of God and believes everyone should get the chance to hear it. Valerie admires her best friend Addy, for the way she seeks the Lord and gives everything she has in sports. Valerie has a passion for other people and a loving heart for the people in need.

Written by: Tyler Martin

Ryan Lambert

Freshman

Garden Spot freshman, Ryan R. Lambert, strives to be the brightest light in the world whenever he possibly can. When waking up for school at the brutal hour of six in the morning, it isn’t a cup of coffee that keeps Ryan motivated. Rather, it is his passion for the opportunity to see and make new friends at school. In fact, he believes his greatest accomplishment is befriending people no matter their disabilities or personal struggles. 

His favorite class is woodworking because it is a desire of his to become a carpenter, building suitable houses for families. His involvement in extracurricular activities also lends a helping hand to his goal of making new friends. 

Ryan participates in the school rifle team and is also considering trying out for the high school baseball team as a sophomore. 

Ryan is a member of Weaverland Anabaptist Faith Community and offers his services by facilitating the lighting for the stage during sermons and other events. When Ryan was younger, he developed a strong admiration for one of his junior youth leaders Shane Esbenshade, who helped guide him in his faith journey, and the respect continues to flourish to this day. 

Most importantly, Ryan strongly believes in the importance of creating a friendly environment for all people, stating, “The world would be a much better place if we could just stop bullying other people.” Ryan’s goal to spread joy in the world is a quality we should all wish to embody.

Written by: Derrick Lambert

Veronica Fox

Senior

Veronica M. Fox is currently a high school senior with high aspirations to do good in the world. The only thing Veronica loves more than the chance to learn is creating greater bonds with her friends and family around her. Veronica strives to do her best in every aspect of life, and this includes her extra-curricular activities. She is currently in the marching band and has been in the band for a total of nine years leading to her achieving the position of drum major. She is also captain of the rifle team and was awarded the Spartacus award, after only being a part of it for two years. In continuation, Veronica is in chorus and vocal ensemble and has been a part of her school’s performing arts program for five years. To top it all off, she has been a part of The National Honor Society for two years. Her favorite subject in school is history because she believes that learning about the past can help grow our knowledge on how we can improve the future. Because of her love for animals, after high school, she plans on going to college to study animal behavior. She belongs to Petra Church and enjoys singing and reading. Veronica believes that if she was given the chance to change the world, she would want to find a way to help more people show kindness towards others. She thinks the world would be a better place if kindness was a part of everyone’s daily routines. Above all else, Veronica admires people who can show kindness, loyalty, and courage. She believes that these characteristics make someone truly genuine and she strives to possess all three qualities every day. Veronica is truly an extraordinary student and will one day impact the world for the better.

Written by: Erika Chernovsky

Ashley Kerchner

Senior

In a time where the vibrancy of life often dulls in comparison to the hardships we face, Ashley Kerchner actively seeks to combat the monotonous monochromacy of life with a brush and acrylic in hand. Ashley truly sets the standard for creative excellence at Garden Spot High School. High school academics often come with stringency in terms of how and what we learn; therefore, Ashley’s favorite aspect of school, both in the art room and in a traditional classroom, is when she can use creative means to incorporate learned material in unique ways to challenge traditional methods of thinking. In addition to her scholastic endeavors, Ashley throws for the track team, swims for both the New Holland Swim Team and Twin Valley Aquatics Club and works in the paint crew for Garden Spot Performing Arts. In her free time, she experiments with different art techniques and runs her own business at ashley_kerchner@outlook.com and on Instagram at ashleyk.artt selling art commissions in a variety of different mediums, including Henna Tattoos. Ashley’s inspiration comes from the great artists that came before her, most notably Michelangelo. His defiance of traditional themes in art in combination with his skillful execution of “impossible” ideas motivates Ashley on and off the canvas. After high school, Ashley plans on majoring in fine arts or business at Pratt University or Tyler School of Art and Architecture so she can pursue her dream of owning a tattoo shop on the beach. Similar to Michelangelo’s defiance of traditional ideas of art, Ashley seeks to prove that art is a viable profession that can compete with traditional jobs in a world where professions in the arts are often frowned upon. Even to those who doubt the existence of their inner artist, Ashley ignites a creative spark in everyone around her and motivates us all to follow our individual passions.

Written by: Emma Burger