AGS Seniors Selected for 20 Under 20

Emma Kate Sellers and Tallulah Schley-Ritchie have been selected by Reporter Newspapers’ 20 Under 20. This honor recognizes local private and public school students who are working to better their communities through tremendous initiatives. 

Below are the excerpts about Emma Kate and Tallulah. Help us congratulate these hard-working young women for their service in the global community, as well as the other 18 recipients who are doing wonderful work in their communities.

Emma Kate Sellers

Emma Kate Sellers '18Emma Kate says she first volunteered with Los Niños Primero simply in an effort to improve her Spanish. But her work with the program for immigrant students in Sandy Springs has grown into much, much more. Over the past four years, she’s put in hundreds of volunteer hours with the organization. She helps teachers in the classrooms and works with students on their English, spelling, math and other subjects. She also connected Los Niños Primero to her micro-philanthropy class project, which contributed $2,000 to the organization. For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, she created an after-school program and curriculum to help pre-kindergarten students at Los Niños Primero reach their academic goals. “By volunteering at Los Niños Primero, I have learned that immigrants, especially non-native speakers, have difficulty navigating the American education system and other systems here in the U.S.,” Emma Kate said. “What started as a way to practice Spanish has grown into 350 hours of service, a $2,000 donation, a Girl Scout Gold Award project and a newfound passion for helping the immigrant community.”

Tallulah Grace Schley-Ritchie
Tallulah Schley-Ritchie '18
Tallulah has been an active member of Scouting Bridges: Uganda, an affiliation of co-ed Venturing Crew 370 of the Boy Scouts of America. She has been to Uganda three times to learn much about medicine and mental health. She is particularly interested in women’s health and has assumed an active role in the Menstruation Matters initiative, which educates young Ugandan women on the importance of safe monthly hygiene. She has participated in educational clinics in and has helped with the distribution of sanitary kits to women who have little or no access to appropriate supplies. “As a person interested in scientific disciplines as well as women’s education and health globally, participating in a project that so directly helps girls my age has been rewarding to such an extent I find it hard to fully articulate.”

Published : January 6, 2018