BHS grad is named Leader

June 11, 2008 Last Updated: June 13, 2008 02:37 PM Undefined

The finalists for the 2008 Leaders of Tomorrow are in front, from left, Blake McCarty, Lisa Moser, Christian Bruggeman, Gabrielle Plesniak and Ryan Mooney; rear, from left, Alexandra Elliott, Kelli Moon and Christina Wick. Nicholas Hufnagel and Lauren Moore also were finalists but did not attend the reception.

CRANBERRY TWP — Christian Gale Bruggeman, a Butler High School 2008 graduate, is the 2008 Leader of Tomorrow.

Bruggeman received the award Tuesday night at a reception at the Pittsburgh Marriot North for young leaders in Butler Country.

Embarq and the Butler Eagle sponsor the program that spotlights youth in grades nine to 12 for their leadership in the community, their academic success and their extracurricular activities.

A committee of five community leaders reviewed all the nominations and selected the 10 top nominees, with Bruggeman being named as the Leader of Tomorrow.

Bruggeman, 18, who received $1,000 for his honor, is the son of Cequenda and Robert Bruggeman of Butler.

He ranked ninth in his class of 622 students with a grade-point average of 4.41 and has received numerous academic awards, according to his nomination.

<table width="300" height="275" border="0" align="right" valign="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><embed src="/assets/mov/BE48143611.MOV " width="320" height="250" autostart="true" loop="false" ></embed></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/" target="_blank">Requires Quicktime Media Player </a> Video by Brandon Gerthoffer<td></tr></table>Bruggeman is active in the community. He has performed 115 hours of service for the National Junior Honor Society, of which he is co-president.For his Boy Scout Eagle Scout project, he organized a blood drive at his church. This became an annual event at the church and is now in its seventh year. In scouts, he ran a food drive to benefit St. Vincent DePaul, and he received Boy Scout national youth leader training.He also earned the Jimmy Stewart Good Citizen Award in scouting for planning a program for clients of United Cerebral Palsy.Bruggeman takes part in many activities at his church. He volunteers as an altar server, greeter and helps with garden maintenance.He plays the violin, French horn, trumpet, drums, bodhran and bagpipe chanter.He's been named a Young Musician of Note by the Butler Symphony three times.He is a member of the Butler County String Symphonette and the Butler Strolling Strings.He's a member of the Butler High School Thespian Troop and has performed in school plays and musicals in addition to several productions at Butler Little Theatre, Saxonburg Summer Theater, Musical Theatre Guild, Butler Summer Dramatics and Comtra Theatre.

At school, he is a National Merit Scholar and was in the gifted program. He took advanced placement classes and served as the captain of the high school team for Armstrong's Academic Challenge.He was a four-year member of the Butler High Golden Tornado Marching Band.After school, Bruggeman participated in the Japanese Club, taught beginner students of violin and tutored students in math.He is a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.He attended the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences at Carnegie Mellon in summer 2007. He has been accepted at Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Sciences.

CRANBERRY TWP — Here are the finalists in the 2008 Butler County Leader of Tomorrow program. Each received $100 for this honor.• Alexandra Elliot, a senior at Knoch High School, is the daughter of Christine and Kenneth Elliot of Sarver.• Nicholas Hufnagel, a freshman at Slippery Rock High School, is the son of Aaron and Tamara Hufnagel of Slippery Rock.• Blake McCarty, a freshman at Mars High School, is the son of Cynthia and Patrick McCarty of Gibsonia.• Kelli Moon, a senior at Seneca Valley High School, is the daughter of Bruce and Karen Moon of Cranberry Township.• Ryan John Mooney, a sophomore at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School, is the son of John and Lynn Mooney of Zelienople.• Lauren Moore, a sophomore at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School, is the daughter of Michele and David Moore of Cranberry Township.• Lisa Moser, a senior at Mars High School, is the daughter of Dave and Kathy Moser of Mars.• Gabrielle Plesniak, a senior at Mars High School, is the daughter of Lucine and Joe Plesniak of Mars.• Christina Lee Wick, a senior at Karns City High School, is the daughter of Eric and Kim Wick of Karns City.<a href="http://video.butlereagle.com/video/leaders1.html" target="_blank"> Click here to check out more videos from the Leaders of Tomorrow reception, including the announcement of the finalists and guest speaker Will Cross.</a>

Bruggeman

From left, Slippery Rock High School student Hannah Domaradzki and her mother, Sarah, visit with Eileen Demetriadis and her daughter, Allyson, a Mars High School student, at the Leaders of Tomorrow reception. More than 200 people attended the reception and heard professional adventurer Will Cross of Pittsburgh talk about his climbing of Mount Everest.

From left, Kurt Stridinger, Maximilan Meese and Lisa Moser, all Mars High School students, were Leader of Tomorrow nominees.

Above, sisters Holly and Heidi Boyce were all smiles at the Leaders of Tomorrow reception. The daughters of Mark and Kim Boyce both attend Portersville Christian School.

Krystle Foertsch, left, goes to Knoch High School and is the daugther of Bill and Mandi Foertsch of Butler. Pamela Cox goes to Butler High School and is the daughter of Dave and Sandra Cox of Evans City. Both girls attended the reception for Leaders of Tomorrow.

Bruce Moon of Cranberry Township. and his daughter, Kelli, a Leader of Tomorrow nominee, attended the reception. Kelli is a student at Seneca Valley High School.