glo Girl : Taryn Martin

TARYN MARTIN

Age: 18

By Bethany Beebe | Photo provided

Fort Wayne native Taryn Martin is continuing her track record of helping others while trying some firsts of her own. With the goal of eventually studying veterinary medicine, the Bishop Dwenger graduate and current first year student at the University of Findlay, aims to continue serving the community with at least one program she was involved with during her noteworthy high school career.

While serving as her class vice president, Taryn learned about a growing leadership development program, Pave the Path. Founder and current program director Jeff Roberts said he wanted young adults to have the chance to truly find themselves and offer a venue to share that inner-found good. “This,” he said, “...helps them find avenues in life to pursue a passion. When you don’t know who you are, it is difficult to lead.”

In the past five years, Roberts said more than 650 students have enjoyed the year-long program, with 54% returning for a second year to act as student mentors.

An annual summit gives participants the chance to network with other students in the area, all learning the keys to branding and selling their ideas. The mentoring program extends through the year with smallgroup meetings and contact from notable area leaders. Some of those ideas for helping others are granted financing. In Taryn’s case, a $500 Young Visionaries Fellowship award recognized her pet project Girls Who Code.

Coding is writing in the language understood by computers to perform operations. Martin hopes middle school girls will learn the skill and take it with them as they look into the future. “This is a program,” she said, “where middle school girls can be introduced to computer science and programming before they reach high school. This will help the number of graduating females in computer science rise in college.”

Pave the Path’s summer 2021 Youth Leadership Conference was the medium to grow her idea. Continuing work with the organization, she became a student mentor in December 2021 and returned for this past summer’s Youth Leadership Summit as a student mentor. She also had the opportunity to speak at the Believe in a Dream Donor Recognition Event where she spoke about Young Visionaries and Pave the Path.

Believe in a Dream is the parent organization for Pave the Path, finding donors, sponsors, and writing grants. To date, 13 area high schools have been represented and four New York City high schools came to the annual conference. Plans include scaling Pave the Path for any community nationwide, and in 2023 or 2024, taking the program to New York City.

Martin said that after her education is complete, she aims to impact the lives of others for the good. “I saw for myself how much this program changed my life, and I would love to impact other teenager’s lives the way Jeff impacted mine,” she said. a • Moving Forward

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