City of Taylorsville

The Youth Council wanted to highlight the graduating seniors who have been members of the City of Taylorsville Youth Council Program. 

Abigail Barney 

Abigail is graduating as the salutatorian from Taylorsville High. She also received the Sterling Scholar Award in Social Science and Academic All-State in three sports. She has enjoyed being involved in drill, tennis, track and field, FBLA, Key Club, National Honors Society, and interning at the Taylorsville Justice Court. She is planning on attending the honors college at the University of Utah to double major in Political Science with an emphasis in Law and Politics and Sociology. 

Aubree Newton 

Aubree is one of the longest-serving Taylorsville Youth City Council members. She has served for four years and has been instrumental in recruiting new members to the youth council. Aubree is one of Taylorsville City’s four Youth Ambassadors and has enjoyed representing the city at ribbon cuttings, service projects and other events. As a Taylorsville High School student, she is heavily involved in the music program. Aubree is a madrigal and concert choir member. She has been a member of the Taylorsville Orchestra for three years, serving as the concert mistress (first chair violin) for two years. She received the Semper Fidelis Award, which recognized her as the outstanding senior in the instrumental music department. She performed as a vocalist and an instrumentalist at region solo and ensemble, where she received superior ratings and qualified for state. Aubree is also a member of the National Honor Society and graduates with a 3.8 GPA. In her spare time, she has a violin studio and volunteers at Primary Children’s Hospital where she does music therapy. In the fall, Aubree will attend Utah State University, and plans to serve an LDS mission next year. 

Cheyanne Bradshaw 

Cheyanne has been on the Taylorsville City Youth Council for three years and has served as an Ambassador as well as the Youth Council Mayor over the past year. She graduated from Taylorsville High School as a top 50 senior with two area of distinction awards. Cheyanne plays the viola as well as three other instruments and has participated in many different orchestra groups including the Taylorsville High School Orchestra and the Granite Youth Symphony. She has also served as a committee member and librarian on the Taylorsville High Music Committee. Cheyanne has received a scholarship from Salt Lake Community College and is looking forward to participating in Student Life and Leadership as a senator this upcoming school year. 

Gideon Baxter 

Gideon is a senior at Taylorsville High School. He recently received an award for being one of the top 50 seniors in his graduating class. He is an avid fan of music and plays the trumpet and piano. He also is a huge basketball fan and loves the Utah Jazz. He is planning on attending BYU after serving an LDS Spanish-speaking mission in Bentonville Arkansas. 

Jessica Rose Forsyth 

Jessica is a third year Youth Council member and is also a Taylorsville City Youth Ambassador. She is a national honor society member. During her years at Taylorsville High School, Jessica has participated in several different AP classes and honors classes and has maintained a 3.8 GPA. Additionally, Jessica is being recognized for six different areas of distinction, a diploma of merit and is a top 50 senior. After high school, Jessica plans on attending the University of Utah, where she wants to major in chemical engineering and a minor in language and then hopefully go on to medical school so she can become an anesthesiologist. 

Joshua Warnock 

Joshua completed his graduation requirements from Taylorsville High in January 2016, taking 30 college credits with him. Josh wanted to finish early because of his desire to serve a mission for the LDS Church as close to his 18th birthday as possible. He is currently at the Mission Training Center learning the Japanese language and will soon be leaving for Japan. Joshua has always liked to invent things. He enjoyed participating in ballroom, swing and country dancing. He loved singing with the acapella group, Sound Pulse and he earned his Brown Belt in Shorei Kempo Karate shortly before leaving on his mission. Joshua is grateful for the friendships he made and the amazing experiences he had while serving on the Taylorsville City Youth Council. 

Joslyn Slade 

Joslyn was a first-year member of the Taylorsville City Youth Council. Joslyn has enjoyed being a part of the council and being able to be involved in community service activities as well as making new friends. Over the past three years, Joslyn has also participated as a member of the Drill Team at Taylorsville High School, serving as both a choreographer her junior year, and as the team captain her senior year. She is a two-time Utah All-State Drill Team member in the 5A division and was also chosen to receive the Sterling Scholar Award in the Dance category. Joslyn is not only recognized for her accomplishments in dance but also excels in academics. She is being honored as one of the Top 50 Seniors at Taylorsville and is finishing high school with a 3.9 GPA. Following high school graduation, Joslyn plans to attend Utah Valley University where she will be majoring in Dental Hygiene. 

Kaitlyn Kim 

This is Kaitlyn’s first year on the Taylorsville Youth Council. Throughout her high school career, she has participated in cross country and track and field. She has been able to run as a Varsity team member each year and has lettered in her sport. Kaitlyn has also been involved with National Honors Society and Concert Choir. Throughout high school, Kaitlyn has been an intern at Hartvigsen. She has loved every second of it and hopes to one day work with children. Additionally, Kaitlyn will graduate as one of the top 50 seniors of Taylorsville High. She has qualified for the Area of Distinction within the athletics and will graduate with many cords. After graduation, Kaitlyn will attend Salt Lake Community College and will pursue an associate’s degree. Once she turns 19, she plans to serve a mission for the LDS church. 

Lydia Flores 

Having joined Taylorsville City Youth Council her senior year, Lydia enjoyed this past year and the opportunity she had to serve the Taylorsville community. Some of her fondest memories were spent as Assistant Editor of the award-winning school newspaper, The Warrior Ledger. Because of this opportunity, Lydia will begin her college career as an English Teaching major at Utah State University. Utah State has awarded Lydia the Merit Scholarship. 

Some of Lydia’s accomplishments include; participating in the Homecoming Pageant, serving as Concert Choir Vice President, and working with special needs students in the Best Buddies club. 

This fall Lydia hopes to become a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She will attend college upon her return. Lydia’s mantra is taken from Martin Luther King, Jr. and it states “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” 

Marin McIff 

Being on the Taylorsville City Youth Council has been an important part of Marin experience in the community. Marin joined the Youth Council in 9th grade, knowing that giving back to her community is a duty of every resident. Having served as Youth Council Chair and Vice Chair was an amazing opportunity where she learned peer leadership, interpersonal communication, and organizational skills. 

Marin has been able to be a leader in Youth Council while enjoying her studies at Taylorsville High School where she has focused on pursuing a health career. She has fulfilled all of the requirements to be a medical assistant when she graduates, giving her a great start as she attends Weber State University in the fall to study respiratory therapy. 

Marin is a skilled figure skater, spending much of her time on the ice in individual and synchronized figure skating events throughout Utah and the nation. She and her team placed first in the Sectionals for synchronized figure skating. Youth Council has been a priority and a fantastic opportunity for Marin to build and hone leadership skills while giving back to her community. 

Mercedez Fortune 

Mercedez is in her senior year on her way to graduating and also is making progress on her associates in computer science. She is part of the Taylorsville City Youth Council as well as DECA where she holds a leadership position as secretary. Her most recent notable achievement has been coming in third place in the state competition for DECA. After graduation, Mercedez hopes to take part in a summer training course where she will learn how to code for IOS or other systems. She also plans on finishing her associate’s degree at Salt Lake Community College and then transferring for a Bachelor’s degree. 

Preston Leon Handy 

Preston is a second year Youth Council member and one of Taylorsville City’s Youth Ambassadors, as well as being a part of the National Honor Society for the past two years. Preston has attended Taylorsville High School where he has taken a multitude of AP classes and has maintained an impressive 3.9 GPA. He has received many awards and recognitions throughout his high school years some of which include four areas of distinction, a diploma of merit, he’s a top 50 senior, student of the month recipient, and has received his Eagle Scout award. For the future, Preston has chosen to go to Utah State University in the fall of 2016, where he will decide his major and his future career. 

Sofia Baxter 

Sofia has always been a conscientious student and is graduating from Taylorsville High this week. She plans on majoring in English at Utah State University next fall. In her high school career, Sofia has been named English Sterling Scholar and has received an area of distinction in Social Studies, Theatre, and Math. She has enjoyed her time on youth council and looks forward to the future.