Support for Louisiana Young Heroes is provided by the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, providing educational help to students with live online tutoring through Homework Louisiana Visit Airplay homework help to learn more, and by the William J. Dorie family with additional support from Community Coffee, Hotel Indigo, Demko, McDonald's, and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and Futures.

Like you, thank you for 30 years, L.P.

is honored an inspiring group of students as Louisiana Young Heroes, OPB travels to all of the Young Heroes hometowns to learn about the positive impact that each is making in their school and their community.

In this special, we are sharing these uplifting stories with you and celebrating their achievements.

Let's meet the newest class of Louisiana Young heroes.

What I admire most about Mellie is her determination, her spark, her compassion she caused.

This kid has such a huge heart for years.

2026 Louisiana young hero Mali Stanley suffered symptoms her mother described as a sort of nervous tic.

After several visits to her pediatrician and finally finding a second doctor, Maley was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 13.

In my mind, I'm thinking a seizure I've seen on TV, you know, someone convulsing or whatever.

I didn't know there were so many different types of seizures.

So she referred us to the neurologist and.

They did EEG and we didn't see her all just at the time.

They just did the test.

Well, then I got the call like the next day and said it was abnormal.

It was scary for me, but for mainly in what she has told me, is it was almost like validation that diagnosis was just the start of Melis journey.

It led to more doctor's visits and the search for knowledge and support.

The first medication that I was on, it was really hard for me.

It was not the right fit.

I was a zombie also, you know, just coming from a small town, it was hard because there was no education on it.

None of my peers really knew anything about seizures.

After finding the right prescription, mainly began to improve.

The lack of educational resources about epilepsy sparked her mission to find and then support others who suffer from similar conditions.

I am the Louisiana teen representative for the Epilepsy Foundation.

I tell my story at five kHz and even, you know, give presentations here at my school, in classrooms, in my community where I can.

And the truth is that I was doing that, you know, before I was given that title.

And, you know, I believe that that's what's important, not just to do something because of the title that you're given, you know, but because you want to do it.

I mean, 1 in 26 people are diagnosed with that, but 1 in 10 had a seizure.

So, you know, it's a lot more common than people think, especially in schools.

Mainly inspired leaders at her school to implement seizure based first aid at Pineville High School.

The school decides you're going to eventually deal with someone having a seizure, and it's a scary thing for anybody to deal with, but especially kids.

And taking the fear out of that by knowing what to do is, is really the fundamental thing she helped actually talk me through.

Like, what are some things we could do for the school?

And, you know, I've just been really proud of her, how she's taken it and tried to spread awareness of that.

I am 1 in 54,000 individuals in Louisiana who have epilepsy.

But, you know, the truth is, is that my diagnosis doesn't define me, right.

You know, I'm not just epilepsy.

I mean, I'm a daughter and I'm a best friend and a girlfriend and a cousin and all the things.

So, you know, it's so important, you know, for others to know that they're not alone.

Team Melissa Stanley.

And I'm a young hero.

Her youngest three siblings have disabilities, and that has shaped her, I think, a lot.

It's opened her eyes to different access.

It's opened her eyes to different people's life's journeys at a very young age, and it's caused her at a very young age to realize not everybody has things handed to them or have anything at all.

So it just calls her to be a big sister with a big heart.

Having a big heart and empathy for others is central to who Brooklyn Warner is, and why creating access is so important to her.

All of my siblings came for the foster care.

Being able to see their stories and to have as much as much sympathy and empathy as I can.

It is truly inspired me to keep going for any other kid in foster care.

The other kid that's going through the adoption process, as I can see how hard it can be, and I want them to have the easiest journey that they can.

With that goal in mind.

Brooklyn established a free school supply cabinet, offering supplies to students who may be going through the foster program or other hardships at home.

That's truly been my driving force for some of my projects, like for my supply cabinet.

Having those foster care students that just need extra supplies, or they don't have enough money, or they don't have enough resources to get those supplies, has truly also been a force.

That why I've been motivated to continue that.

Brooklyn's other passion centers on science.

She's a champion for girls interested in Stem, and she's a leader on her school robotics team, where her contributions are out of this world.

Brooklyn's leadership, especially in robotics, she very much leads by example, and she is one that will check in and make sure that everybody is there and understanding of what's going on.

Brooklyn has kind of established a programing group.

We now have eight students who are very much interested in programing, who she has made sure are included in all aspects of what is going on with the robot, which is awesome.

It's important to me to provide this to access for girls, because it allows them to see themselves in something they may have not seen themselves in before.

This also kind of relates back to my book, The Pig Astronaut, where it tells them about my personal experience and how whenever I was a kid, I wanted to be at astronaut, and sometimes people would look at me a little weirdly because, I mean, I like pink and I like glitter, and I wanted to show and give the opportunity to other young girls that just because you like pink, just because you like glitter, that doesn't stop you from being able to achieve anything you set your mind to.

This is precisely why Brooklyn founded her own nonprofit organization called the Pink Potion Society.

She organizes workshop for young girls to explore topics not normally associated with Stem.

We did a cosmic engineering where we tested different makeup products and how they work.

Moved in more with agriculture, and we tested the flowers and the different petals and how they could be different.

I was able to reach out to professionals in that field, so they could give a more in-depth explanation of how this relate system, and why it's so important, and how anything you're interested in can be.

Is still field because Stem is everywhere.

When I was named the top 40 Women in Computing, it was so shocking.

I still am shocked to this day and I applied for it just for fun to see.

Oh, I'm probably not going to get this, but I'm still going to apply anyway.

And when I got it and I won nationally my first try, it was inspiring to me and it made me realize that what I'm doing isn't as small scale as I think it is.

I'm truly affecting my community.

I'm truly making an impact that I've met so many, so many amazing girls that have the same intentions and have the same motivation to push forward and impact our community.

I'm Brooklyn winner and I'm a young hero.

John is just amazing.

His drive, his ambition, his need to help others and just better himself and others around him just amazes me daily.

He's very much a leader in every aspect.

He's very smart.

He's not afraid to help people and help those around him.

He's very confident in what he does, and I'm very proud of every accomplishment that he's he's done.

2026 Louisiana young hero John Parker leads by example.

His mother and sister share how John is an inspiration.

His success is even more incredible because of the challenges he faced early in life.

The doctor told us a month before I got pregnant with him, that there was absolutely no way possible we could have another child, and that was devastating.

But when I prayed, I felt like I were going to.

And sure enough, he's 17 now.

When he was born, he wasn't breathing.

They had to put him in the ICU.

And then we found out at three he had speech problems and he couldn't hear.

His sister was saying everything for him was the very close.

I was always able to tell like what he was saying and what what he was trying to get across.

And to me, it really like helped build our brother sister relationship because I did know what he was trying to say.

He had to have surgery and intensive speech therapy all the way up until second grade, and he advanced from that.

His public speaking now just amazes his dad and I daily.

Those who met John today would never realize the hurdles that he's overcome.

Now he uses his voice to help others facing their own challenges.

Somebody once told me that before you build a skyscraper, you need to dig down to rock bottom, and that applies to every aspect of our life.

And so, yes, it's unfortunate that I had to undergo hearing loss at such a young age.

But because of that, the good news is that I've been able to build my skyscraper ever since.

A big part of building John's skyscraper is building a beacon of hope for others.

He and his sister Sonia established their own foundation to bring the light of literacy to students at schools with high poverty rates.

The part of Story Light Foundation's mission is important to me, because I grew up in a household that instilled the importance of education in me from a very young age.

I can take something as small as a book and help out Louisiana's literacy rates.

Then that's what's important at the end of the day.

The first year we distributed around 50 books, the next year was 150, and then the next year was 800.

We'll go to these schools in need, and we'll give a short presentation on why education and literacy is important and distribute these books.

And this is really important.

Some of these students have told us that they've never received a book, and that might have been the only gift that they'd gotten that year to give something that continues to give back in our community is really important.

From creating a foundation to leading parliamentary procedures for the Future Farmers of America and the Louisiana Youth Advisory Council, and so much more.

John is charting a course to continue his service to others.

I want to live up to my fullest potential.

I don't want it to be another case as somebody who could have gone the distance, but didn't, I do the most I can to see how much I can do for myself and others, to see how much I can do for my community.

I'm John Parker and I'm a young hero.

Marley is a bright and radiant spirit.

She's spontaneous and optimistic.

She's that person that you want in your corner, the one that definitely give you a good smile when you're having a bad day.

She's that leader of the pack, is what I call her.

She knows how to see the best in everybody, and she's always looking out for her friends.

That's how the parents of 2026 Louisiana young hero Marley Ozanne described their youngest child.

Her compassion toward others began at home.

Her older brother, Jackson, has autism.

Marley focuses on his well-being, using it as an inspiration to create inclusive opportunities for him and others.

Growing up with a brother who is autistic non-verbal, it needs support throughout the day.

Many people could have looked at that as a hindrance, but instead it opened Marley's heart to help her brother and others like him.

Marley created a lending library called the Sound Sanctuary.

People can borrow noise canceling headphones to help in noisy situations.

When things get too loud, he tends to get upset, sometimes just overwhelmed.

So if when the headphones go on, it dims the sound.

That way he can actually enjoy activities like basketball games or going to Disney.

Are the movies even just because things are too loud?

Seeing him be happy with all that support around him just makes me really happy.

As a sister, Marley also ensures Jackson can enjoy typical high school events, inviting him to their homecoming dance and prom as her plus one.

Her compassion for others also extends to her volunteer activities and her role as junior facilitator at the Confidence campaign.

I came to the confidence campaign where I saw that other girls were having the same issues as me, where we could all just talk about it and we can all just share our stories and just learn off of each other.

And I wanted that for every girl, where she can have a support of other people that are there for her and where she knows to go if she's having trouble.

Marley has been with the confidence campaign since 2023.

She has grown in ways that I can't even imagine.

She blossomed into this like leader, and it's so cool to watch because you see her in different aspects of her life here.

When she's working in our workshops and she's with her peers, you're able to see how she actually makes others comfortable, how she's able to relate to them, and then empower them to answer questions and to feel comfortable in these different surroundings.

Marley's passion and leadership are what inspired Shayna Ozanne to nominate Marley for the Young Hero Award.

She's just wise beyond her years.

My daughter is non-verbal and even though Aubrey doesn't respond back, she still asks her question even though she knows she's not going to answer.

So that's something you don't see every day.

I do what I do to make an impact and to help people.

Helping people is what I'm centered around, because you always want to be the one that uplifts someone and doesn't be the person that tears them down.

I want to make sure everyone's included.

I'm Marley Ozanne and I'm a young hero.

Charlotte is such a quiet light in this world.

She doesn't like the spotlight, but when you spend some time with her, you just see that the light of love and joy that she has for life and people around her just radiates.

She is a quiet force of good.

She's always ready to give, to do, to help.

These are the words that Charlotte Gomes mother and grandmother used to describe their 2026 Louisiana young hero.

Charlotte and her grandmother share a common interest in books and helping others and volunteer each week at the Uno Children's Library.

Charlotte's grandmother, who sort of first suggested, you know, like, well, this might be an interesting thing.

She was a former librarian, a former principal.

So she said, well, you know, I can volunteer and can I bring my granddaughter?

And I said, love it.

I would say that the qualities I most admire about Charlotte are stick to it.

This series of purpose, you know, she's just on it.

And so that's the kind of person I need as a volunteer.

It's so much fun to be with Charlotte in a working situation like this, where it's away from the home and where we just can interact like we're helping other people.

Being able to volunteer and work at a library has been a really important thing for me, and just being able to help other kids, how to have access to books like I had when I was younger.

Charlotte's love of reading began early in life, and led her to want to help others in a most profound way, not just here at home, but also abroad.

She loves books so much that when she was in second grade, when she found out about an opportunity to fund some books for school in Kenya, Pedal School of Africa, she was all in.

The school is in a small village where there were two warring tribes, and so the school came about as a peacemaker because even though the tribes didn't get along, everyone wanted their children to have a great education and a safe environment.

Charlotte tells us how she first began fundraising for the Pedals School of Africa.

It started with like smaller projects, like lemonade stands, like in my grandma's neighborhood.

And then over time, it grew to like going to craft fairs.

And then when I went with like a service group that I'm a part of, when they decided to like, go to that school, it was really exciting because I'd been like fundraising for them for a while.

So I had like a little bit of background and a part of like the requirements for the trip was to bring like a bag of, like the stuff you needed for the trip and then a bag of stuff to donate.

And I reached out to, like, the lady in charge of the school and asked them like what they might need.

And she said, a lot of the girls don't have access to like, period products, and so I work to fundraise for that.

Charlotte started fundraising when she was a little girl.

That meant a lot to us because we were a very new organization and now a senior in high school, she, you know, raised some significant money to do some things for the girls that they really needed.

I'm Charlotte goons, and I'm a young hero.

He cannot do anything without knowing all about it.

He's extremely passionate about whatever he does.

150% is not as much as he does.

It's like 200%.

He's all in no matter what it is, whether it's school, whether it's football, whether it's teen court, he's all in.

Giving 200% is all the more incredible because 2026 Louisiana young hero Andrew Chambers lives every day with diabetes.

Andrew was a year old when he was diagnosed.

He had a birthday party and he got his birthday cake and that threw his numbers extremely high.

He was then sent to Lafayette to women's and children.

I can remember asking, well, what happens?

You know, when he sleeps?

The same thing that happens when he's awake.

He has to be monitored.

This isn't his quote, but he's made a comment that you can't choose what makes you strong.

And that's something that he'll kind of say every once in a while.

And it has.

It has made him extremely strong.

Instead of seeing diabetes as a hurdle to overcome, Andrew views it as a tool to help himself grow.

Diabetes has.

It's definitely a part of who I am because of how much I have to deal with it.

There's if I could always choose again and say what I want to live with or without it, I'd probably still choose to live with it because it's taught me so much cause and effect.

It's taught me grit and definitely determination, and I don't.

I still want it in my life.

Now, that's not to say if there's a cure for it.

Now that I've learned everything has taught me, I wouldn't, you know, try to get rid of it.

But it's sad to have.

But everyone has their problems and I'm just happy I was able to learn from mine.

Andrew uses those skills to help others through the New Iberia Teen Court, where he serves as a defense attorney.

People will come in, and it will be young people who just maybe got on a fight, and it's like a second chance they'll come in the defense.

So I'll explain their side.

I get to talk to him personally before it starts, and I'll ask why they did this.

And they usually tell me their story, and then I'll be able to go in front of people, explain why they did this.

Because someone always does something for a reason.

Teen court has taught me that there's not just one side to a story.

Andrew also shares a love of history with his grandmother.

To celebrate America 250, he took part in reenactments portraying an ancestor who fought for independence.

I could walk around and it was history.

And history is so important because if you learn your mistakes.

That's how we learned.

I had to learn about what my ancestors and my ancestors community had to do in order to survive.

Here.

He was portraying our relative.

And so as a member of the daughters of the American Revolution, I was just elated that he had the interest and wanted to do this for me.

Andrew's family says his compassion and perseverance guide him through life.

Among his many mentors, Andrew credits his family, especially his mother and grandmother, for helping him excel.

They helped me stride.

They.

Whenever I'm down, they let me go out and try and I'll come back and ask and they'll help me.

They're just there in the background, make sure everything went smoothly and they do more than I know.

I'm still learning things that they do.

During my childhood, I would be nowhere near the person I am today without them.

I'm injured, chambers and I'm a young hero.

Jaden is intelligent, he's selfless, and he's empowering.

May 2026 Louisiana young hero Jaden Armstrong.

His parents describe him as a young man willing to go above and beyond to help anyone in need.

If he can help, he will help.

I will never forget when he was younger and he was in elementary school, and I was picking him up from school, and we were at a stoplight, and he saw a guy on a corner and he was like, mom, I have like some snacks left, you know, from lunch it was crackers that he had never opened.

And he was like, can we give it to him?

So he wanted to roll down the window and give it to him.

So he's always been like a giving child, always been the same person.

And that's one of the things that I that I'm proud about him the most.

I think back to when he was in, in pre-K or kindergarten in South Downs, and his teacher came to, to me and his mom and said that Jaden gave up his whole recess to spend time with a kid that was in a wheelchair.

And it was just that grace and that love that he has.

He's always carried that throughout his whole life.

James empathy and compassion stemmed from his upbringing and his close family bonds.

Jaden has two younger siblings, five year old Cecilia and nine year old brother Rossi.

Both idolized their big brother, who was in turn inspired by them.

So Jaden's relationship with his siblings is amazing.

Cecilia and Rossi they love Jaden so much they treat him like he's a celebrity whenever he comes over to the house.

My middle son, Rossi, he's visually impaired and he makes Jaden sit down in their chair and they sit there and they explore within his imagination, seeing like how he had different challenges, like every day.

Something as simple as that.

I was wondering, like I wanted to create a solution for him to so he can, like, be more independent.

Seeing his brother's challenges, Jaden created a line of clothing called Feel Better that incorporates Braille.

I did this program called Young Entrepreneurs Academy.

Basically, they take a young high schoolers that want to be entrepreneurs and go through a whole course throughout the whole school year that helps them build their own business and grow as an entrepreneur.

Because I feel like that everyone, no matter what language, speak with his English, Spanish or Braille, that everybody can understand comfort.

And I wanted to provide the best comfort for everybody with feel better and right here with the blue takes, it reads in Braille, blue right here.

The braille marking gives independence like allows people just like my younger brother to be independent with sorting out and picking their clothing.

Jaden won first place at the 2025 Young Entrepreneurs Academy Community Pitch Competition, and then went on to place in the top six finalist nationally for his sensory friendly clothing brand.

Jaden is my son, so of course I'm going to think, hey, this is a wonderful idea, but just the reaction and the support that he received from others, it was overwhelming for me because I'm like, oh my God, this is my child, this is my son.

I just looked in his eyes and I can just see everything was going about him.

In the process of building out feel better than his program with Young Entrepreneurs Academy, I watched him come up with multiple ideas and then to see where he landed in honor of his brother, but then taking that same thought process and building it out for everyone to feel better, I was blown away and I was filled with so much pride.

I'm Armstrong and I'm a young hero.

What inspiring stories.

All seven young heroes were celebrated on Young Heroes Day in Baton Rouge in the morning.

Started with breakfast, introductions and a tour of the LPB studios.

Then the heroes and their families boarded a motorcoach to LSU, where they got a behind the scenes tour of football operations and an on field experience at Tiger Stadium.

From there, it was on to the Governor's mansion for an elegant lunch, a greeting from Governor Landry, and inspirational words from Miss Louisiana.

After that, they headed to the state capitol, where they were recognized in the House chamber by lawmakers who proclaimed it Louisiana Young Heroes Day 2026.

Young heroes are all incredibly talented young people, focused on making their communities and Louisiana a better place for everyone.

Watch their full stories at LPB.

And again, congratulations from all of us at.

Support for Louisiana Young Heroes is provided by the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, providing educational help to students with live online tutoring through homework Louisiana visit.

Homework help to learn more and by the door with additional support from Community Coffee, Hotel Indigo, Demko, McDonald's, and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and Fuels.

Like you.

Thank you.