For five years, Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania has honored outstanding young people in the area through its “18 Under Eighteen” program.

Applicants are nominated by people in their community and are selected through an extensive interview process. The 18 honorees — all younger than 18 years of age — are then paired with a professional coach for two months of development training, along with mentorship and leadership that follows them into their professional careers. The youngest honoree is 11 years old.

“A part of their journey is their first stop is with us, and we like to say we like to discover the stars and then, through that, they become a star,” said Patrice Matamoros, Junior Achievement regional president. “Some have written books, others have started their own nonprofits, they own and are [operating] functioning business organizations. It’s just really great.”

“They learn tips, tools and strategies that help them in a way that is absolutely incredible because most adults don’t get this type of professional coaching until they are an executive,” said BeNeca Ward, CEO of Moment to Focus and a Junior Achievement alumna. “It’s a mentorship, a leadership, a resource hub that we have prepared and are excited to share.”

Reese Sequite, a junior at Butler High School, is one of the 18 honorees and was nominated by a family friend for whom she babysat. She runs a program at her local YMCA where she teaches swimmers — ages 5 to 18 — who have disabilities.

“I remember looking into it and thinking, ‘I don’t know if this is … if I’ll get in, or what this is even about,’” she said. “But then, I interviewed and got accepted, and it’s been amazing. It’s been an amazing journey.”

Sequite has already completed a summer program with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, but her plans for her college education are still unknown. 

“I’m hoping to go to college in an area that has a lot of need, so I can continue volunteering, creating programs that have a large, tangible scale impact,” she said. “Just continue making an impact, continue being positive, continue being me.”

Patricia Rae Shanahan is a senior at North Allegheny High School, and through her initiative, “Heart and Hem,” she designs and sells clothes with the proceeds benefiting survivors of domestic violence in the Pittsburgh area. She says her mission is to turn fashion into a force for good.

“This experience has been amazing,” Shanahan said. “I have learned so much about myself, and I love the community that I’ve been surrounded with peers who are similar-minded as me, and who are passionate and driven to do great things for their community, and it’s been really, truly special.”

Shanahan plans to attend an undergraduate university after high school and study both biology and gender studies in an effort to help address issues like inequity in women’s health.

“Women’s health care is a very, very under-researched and under-developed field, and a lot of times women are stripped of their bodily autonomy when it comes to practices in women’s health care,” she said.

Program organizers say the honorees already have impressive resumes at young ages, but they’re being prepared for future success long into adulthood.

“It’s not just a one-time acknowledgement,” said Ward. “It’s them being seated into the work that we’re doing and making sure they have resources for life.”

Shanahan believes her hard work through “Heart and Hem” — along with her passion and optimism — has reaped this opportunity, but she also appreciates the potential this program gives her to further pursue her dreams.

“I want to tell anyone to embody that positivity, embody that optimism, and embody that mindset and so they can do similar things because everything’s possible,” she said.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tommy Novak shoveled Egor Chinakhov’s rebound for a hard-fought goal, and frustrations over officiating and scoring chances denied melted away. Novak was the only Pittsburgh Penguins (29-15-12) goal scorer who was not a rookie.

And the Penguins hit the Olympic break with a well-earned 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres (32-19-6) at Key Bank Center.

Avery Hayes scored a pair of impressive goals. Important ones, too.

Second shift. First career shot. First NHL goal. The perfect storm of Penguins’ injury (Rickard Rakell), illness (Noel Acciari), and personal absence (Blake Lizotte) created a need for the Penguins to make a recall just hours before the game. The organization chose the scrappy Hayes to make his NHL debut, and they were handsomely rewarded.

Midway through the first period, Hayes chased a bouncing puck in the offensive zone and zipped past defenseman Jacob Bryson for a short breakaway. Hayes (1) showed a healthy burst of speed past Bryson for the puck and whipped it past Buffalo goalie Alex Lyon at 9:17 of the first period for a 1-1 tie.

The goal changed the game as the sputtering Penguins sprang to life.

Hayes had unfinished business. Second career shot, second career goal.

Later in the first period, Hayes flashed more speed by chipping the puck into the offensive zone and racing past everyone to take possession. He worked the puck behind the net for Anthony Mantha, who snapped a pass back to Hayes, who was charging toward the net.

Hayes (2) roofed a tight-angle one-timer past Lyon at 18:47 for a 2-1 Penguins lead.

Ben Kindel also scored a pair of goals.

The Penguins’ goals were exclusively from rookies through the first 40 minutes. Early in the second period, Kindel stole the puck at the defensive blue line, launching himself on a two-on-one with Justin Brazeau.

Kindel (13) unleashed a particularly wicked wrister for the near post and past Lyon at 7:44 of the second period for the unassisted goal and a 3-1 lead.

Kindel (14) also scored the empty-netter with 13 seconds remaining.

The Penguins started well, but one little mistake quickly turned into an early deficit. Penguins winger Egor Chinakhov carried the puck too long and was stripped of possession at the red line. Buffalo quickly countered, and former Penguins winger Jason Zucker (15) sniped a far-corner shot over Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs at 1:46 of the first period.

However, the Buffalo power plays continued, and Buffalo made their fourth chance count when Tage Thompson put a quarter in the piggy bank, snapping a tight-angle shot into the small space above Silovs’s shoulder and beneath the crossbar at 1:55 of the third to cut the Penguins’ lead to 3-2.

At the time, it was Buffalo’s fourth power play, compared to just one for the Penguins, despite some opportunities for referees Mike Sullivan and Jake Brenk to even the chances.

The Penguins ended with three power play chances after Peyton Krebs ran over Silovs in the third period, an act for which he received a minor penalty and some heavy right hands from defenseman Connor Clifton after the pair dropped the gloves.

Buffalo ended with five power plays, including an advantage in the final 90 seconds when Anthony Mantha was called for hooking.

Silovs stopped 25 of 27. Lyon stopped 27 of 31 before being pulled for the extra attacked.

Penguins Notes

The team played without Rakell and Blake Lizotte. Rakell was out with a lower-body injury, which coach Dan Muse termed day-to-day. Lizotte is with his wife, attending the birth of their first child.

Avery Hayes was the 12th rookie to play for the Penguins this season. That figure leads the NHL.

Since the Sabres fired GM Kevyn Adams, the team was 20-3-1 entering the game Thursday.

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