Garrett Schmidt is the son of Rick & Toshia Miller and Scott Schmidt. In school he is active in our FFA Chapter. He currently serves as Chapter President and is also serving as the Somerset County FFA 2nd Vice President. His hobbies include collecting hot wheels, vinyl records and cassette tapes. He also enjoys working on cars – in particular a 1989 Ford Festiva and a 1985 Pontiac Trans Am. He enjoys going to and participating in car shows. Since 2010, he has volunteered with the Meyersdale, Salisbury, Berlin Relay for Life. His grandmother is an 18 year breast cancer survivor and his step dad is a 9 year soft tissue sarcoma survivor. Volunteering his time with this organization is very important to him and his family. Garrett has already attended Garrett College of Maryland and earned an ASE Diesel Mechanic Certification. After high school, he plans to continue his education in mechanics. Eventually, he would like to open his own garage.
Ryan Bender is a graduating senior at Salisbury Elk Lick High School. He is the son of Tom and Laurie Bender. Ryan’s high school activities and honors included National Honor Society, High School High Honor Roll, Future Farmers of America (Leadership Award 2021), Varsity Track & Field, Ski/ Snowboarding Club, and High School Musical “Oz!” Outside of school, Ryan enjoys playing classical and jazz piano, plays drums and electric bass guitar for the Oak Dale Church worship team, is active in Oak Dale Church High School Ministries, Team Blackout Arm Wrestling, and Bible Quizzing. Ryan took several dual enrollment courses his junior and senior years, and was named to the Dean’s List at Allegany College of Maryland. Ryan also received the ACM Physics Award in May 2022. Ryan has volunteered for numerous community service projects including Adopt-a-Highway, volunteer counselor for Camp FUSION, volunteer staff at Rosedale Bible College Choral Camp, community family events such as Pumpkin Patch, and several work projects for the elderly in the community. He has also been honored to serve the homeless in Columbus, Ohio, as well as work alongside Outpour Ministries to help Burmese refugee children in Mae Sot, Thailand, on missions trips he took with his youth group. Ryan has been accepted to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he will major in Computer Science Software Engineering.