Annual 2025 CityScope® Summer Issue
These graduates have accomplished incredible things and enjoyed great successes since their high school years. Their talents and passions have taken them to the country’s most prestigious universities, across the globe, and in some cases, right back to the Scenic City.
So what’s putting them on the map? Read about it here.
Madison Blevins, a two-time basketball All-District honoree, scored over 1,000 career points in high school and helped CCS achieve consecutive 20-win seasons. While at Covenant College, she served as team captain and earned multiple academic honors. In 2024, she was nominated and joined “So You Want To Be A Coach,” a competitive program that assists female basketball players who are interested in pursuing a coaching career. Blevins is now a graduate assistant with UCLA Women’s Basketball, who won the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship, secured the Spokane 1 Regional Championship, and advanced to their first-ever Final Four in the NCAA tournament era.
Riley Bellamy is a 2022 graduate and valedictorian of Hixson High School. Bellamy is currently a student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, graduating in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in communication and a minor in marketing, maintaining a 4.0 GPA. She completed an internship at Hunter PR in New York, where she assisted the beauty and personal care team with public relations initiatives for notable clients, monitored media coverage, and conducted outreach to influencers. Bellamy also previously held an executive events assistant role at The Social Office, where she supported event planning for celebrity events. Currently, she works as an assistant account executive at Mace+Carmichael, managing social media content and media relations.
Tomas Arciniega is a 2014 graduate of Baylor School and went on to earn a B.A. in economics from Sewanee. He began his career as an intern in 2017 with ACA Group, a global provider of governance, risk, and compliance advisory services and technology solutions. He currently serves as senior principal consultant at ACA. Arciniega is on the Baylor Alumni Council and is an active volunteer and ambassador with the United Way of Chattanooga.
Cara Kent graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2023 with a degree in marine biology. She was a volunteer educator at the Tennessee Aquarium for more than two years, where she interacted with guests and shared information about the animals. While in school, she worked closely with dolphins, completing an internship at the Dolphin Research Center and working at the Dolphin Connection as a marine mammal specialist. Kent’s passion for both science and theatre paved the way to her dream job at SeaWorld, where she now works with sea lions and otters as a zoological specialist.
Micah Smith graduated from Signal Mountain Middle/High School in 2018, earning the International Baccalaureate diploma. He was an enthusiastic and hard-working student throughout his time at SMMHS, and that effort continued as he sought his further education at Mississippi State University. Smith began a promising career as an engineer locally at Astec, where he serves as a supervisor of manufacturing engineering. He is an engaged alum of SMMHS, often offering to speak at events and helping mentor current students.
Taylor Young studied at Austin Peay State University, majoring in biology with the hopes of becoming a zookeeper. During college, she worked for the Chattanooga Zoo’s summer camps, as well as Tennessee State Parks as a seasonal interpretive ranger at locations such as Red Clay and Fall Creek Falls. After graduation, Young became Red Clay’s full-time interpretive ranger. She is passionate about educating kids and adults about the Cherokee people, and she loves helping students from lower-income communities experience hands-on outdoor learning.
While completing his senior year at Silverdale Baptist Academy, Jordan Sanders accepted an offer to play football at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. At the Naval Academy he balances rigorous academic duties as a quantitative economics major, military training, and his role as a special teams player and raider on defense for the Midshipmen football team. He is currently the platoon commander of 4th platoon in the 20th company and will become a commissioned officer upon graduation, earning him the title of Ensign Sanders. He will then be stationed in Pensacola, Florida, where he will attend flight school. Sanders is grateful for the opportunities the Lord has given him, and remains guided by his faith throughout his journey.
Logan Pierce, a 2016 graduate from Walker Valley High School, joined SpaceX in 2021 as a member of the avionics team for the Starship program. His responsibilities included building and testing wiring harnesses for the Starship Rocket. In 2023, he was promoted to the executive information technology team and later promoted as lead A/V administrator. In his current role, Pierce is responsible for managing teams in California, Texas, and Florida, with the responsibility of building and maintaining audio and visual infrastructure for the executive team, production facilities, and launch operations.
While attending Grace Academy, Hannah Lee Whited Wolfenbarger started her wedding photography business, Hannah Lee Photography, in the fall of 2014. After graduating in 2015 she attended Pellissippi State Community College, where she double majored in photography and video production, graduating in the fall of 2018. After graduating, Hannah Lee Photography was still a part-time business as Whited Wolfenbarger traveled throughout the Southeast and Africa as a photographer for mission organizations. After returning home she settled in Knoxville and went full time as a wedding photographer in 2019. Hannah Lee Photography has since expanded into a six-figure business with a team of part-time employees who represent the company from Bar Harbor, Maine, to Miami, Florida, and throughout the Southeast. Whited Wolfenbarger and her husband Seth are expecting their first child in May.
Nick Crawford’s experience leading at high levels of political office began at Ringgold High School while serving as a state and national officer for Future Business Leaders of America, an international student organization. Since then, Crawford has hosted a political talk radio show, ran political campaigns across the South, and served as the Majority Caucus Advisor for the Tennessee House of Representatives. He is currently senior associate at Capitol & 5th Public Strategies, lobbying the state capitol for nationally recognized clients, including a top-20 ranked university, major hospital networks, and retail giants. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee in political science and the Nashville School of Law.
Andrew Lisy is graduating dental school this May from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He serves as vice president of his class and will graduate in the top 5 amongst his peers. Throughout dental school, he had a rigorous didactic and clinical experience as well as had the opportunity to travel to Japan on a dental exchange program. In July, he will attend the Foundry Dental Center – a highly regarded residency program in Birmingham, AL. There, he will receive advanced training in implant dentistry, IV sedation, bone grafting, and complex full-mouth rehabilitation. As a proud graduate of Notre Dame High School, he still considers Chattanooga his hometown and looks forward to serving the Chattanooga community in the near future.
As the senior class president of the Collegedale Academy class of 2020, Braden Knapp’s graduation speech challenged his class to continue to recognize God’s leadership within their lives as they stepped out into the world. During college at Southern Adventist University, Knapp became involved in local politics, interning for Senator Marsha Blackburn and managing local campaigns. After graduation he joined his family’s business, Sunkote Coatings, as the director of operations. Outside of work, Knapp is very involved in his church as a youth leader and deacon.
Kennedy Ball played varsity soccer at GPS for five years, earning Best of Preps three times, All-Region three times, and All-State awards twice, in addition to leading GPS to two state titles. She was named United Soccer Coaches All-South Region, and was the first Chattanooga female soccer athlete to be given the United Soccer Coaches All-American award; earned the TSSAA Multi-Sport Athlete Award for her participation in soccer, basketball, and track and field; and was named the Chattanooga Female High School Soccer Player of the Year. Kennedy has continued her journey playing at the NCAA Division I level with the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. Some of her highlights with the Razorbacks include an SEC regular season title and going all the way to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA National Tournament in 2024. She has recently signed with Chattanooga Football Club as a midfielder for the 2025 Chattanooga FC Women’s WPSL season.
