Alabama Public Television's 2006 Young Heroes

Anne Chesson
Saraland, Alabama
At age seven, Anne Chesson was struck and dragged by a school bus. The accident caused life-threatening, disfiguring injuries including a crushed pelvis and hip, broken leg, and fractured skull. Anne endured years of painful recovery, but survived due to sheer determination and grit. Today this 17-year-old Satsuma High School senior is ninth in her class with a 4.4 GPA, serves on her student council, is active in clubs and church activities and placed among the top ten finalists in Mobile County’s 2005 Junior Miss Pageant. She balances her schoolwork and extra curricular activities with a 20-hour work week at a local drug store and plans to major in Pediatric Plastic Surgery at Spring Hill College.

Rod Jones
Birmingham, Alabama
The youngest child of divorced parents, Rod Jones was forced to take on greater responsibility than most kids do at an early age. Jones combines strong study habits with a passion for theatre design to maintain an “A” average while also holding down a job to help pay current expenses and save for college. Honored as “Student of the Week” by The Birmingham News, he has served as an actor, designer, lighting director, carpenter, painter and stagehand at his school theatre while also taking on special projects with local entertainment venues. Jones is committed to becoming a master builder so that he can give back to his community. Already accepted by Auburn University’s Building Science Department, he plans to hone his talents enough to create a diversified construction company in his home state. 

Dana Lewis
Huntsville, Alabama
Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes during her first year of high school, Lewis did not allow fear and embarrassment to overtake her life. Instead, she dove headfirst into making a difference for teenagers like herself, forming the first teen support group in Alabama, then serving as Alabama Young Ambassador and National Youth Advocate for the American Diabetes Association. She has addressed members of Congress about the need for diabetes research, has spoken at fundraising and corporate events, school groups and other local organizations and even traveled 17,000 miles last summer to speak to more than 2,000 children at diabetes camps in 10 states.In 2006, Dana was selected by the International Diabetes Federation as 1 of 25 young adults worldwide to participate in a Youth Leadership Workshop in Cape Town, South Africa.

Robert (R.C.) Walsh
Decatur, Alabama
“He gives one hundred percent in all aspects of life. He is a scholar…He is a leader.” Those words, spoken by Lt. Col. James L. Walker, U.S. Army Retired, concisely describe Cadet Lieutenant R. C. Walsh, company commander of Austin High School’s ROTC Honor Company. Walsh was born three months prematurely with hydrocephalus, and has endured 49 operations including at least 20 back surgeries and a spinal fusion. Yet this driven young man has managed to earn “Citizen of the Year” and “Teen of the Year” from Alabama Boys State and received his high school’s Hugh O’Brian Leadership Award. Walsh has also received a full scholarship to the University of Montevallo.

Cynthia Lee Wozow
Cottonwood, Alabama
Cynthia Wozow, a senior at Cottonwood High School in south Alabama, isn’t wasting a moment of her young life. A serious student who has won national recognition for her academic efforts, she is an active member of Key Club, excels in cheerleading, is a devoted member of her school’s concert and marching band and is an active volunteer at her community hospital and with her local substance abuse council. This 18-year old role model, who happens to be a twin, was born with Cerebral Palsy, a disability that she refuses to allow to limit her capabilities.

Marissa Feigelson Community Service Award
One Alabama Young Hero is honored each year with the Marissa Feigelson Community Service Award, named for one of the first Alabama Young Heroes who died of leukemia in February 2001. This year the award was presented to Young Hero Rod Jones of Birmingham.


The Alabama Young Heroes Awards are made possible by the support of Books-A-Million, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, the Rotary Club of Birmingham, Alabama Power Foundation, Thompson Family Foundation, Goodrich Family Foundation, The Barton Head Foundation, Honda Manufacturing of Alabama and Parisian.