Jaylin Hessler lights up when you mention the calf she’s showing for 4-H or her upcoming softball game, but her strongest passion may be for the kitchen. Jaylin says one of her best memories was, “When I learned how to cook with my grandma, mom, and dad.” Her mom Larinda remembers a toddler-aged Jaylin snooping around the cupboards, getting into the pots and dishes.

At three years old, Jaylin got into cooking with a batch of humble Rice Krispie treats. Now she cooks full meals every week. Her cooking is all the more impressive because a learning disorder makes it hard for Jaylin to read the recipes.

This difficulty led her to a tasty idea. She says, “I want to make a cookbook that kids like me can read.” She’s just getting started on it, but Jaylin’s cookbook will use lots of pictures and color-coded recipe ingredients will correspond to matching measuring cups and spoons.

As if that weren’t enough, her desire to help others extends beyond the human beings in her life. Jaylin also finds inspiration in her family’s five dogs. She says, “They love eating my food. I make them homemade dog treats, and I want to start making horse treats, too.”

Jett Huff has been practicing karate for almost two-thirds of his life, and he’s already got a roomful of trophies to prove it. He started learning martial arts with his dad, Curtis (owner of Land Shark Martial Arts) when he was only 2 years old.

Jett excels in self-defense and sparring as well as in using the bowstaff and sai (a three-pronged hand weapon). Jett has been taking part in karate competitions every few months since the age of 4.

“He’s very specific and exact,” his dad says. “He’s showing skill levels of 9- and 10-year-olds with body movement and memory skills.” Jett will even help demonstrate skills to his classmates! And while he says karate is fun and he’s excited to win trophies — some of which are literally as tall as he is — Jett is a well-rounded kid.

He loves art classes at Meadowview Elementary (where he just finished kindergarten), enjoys making jokes and writing silly stories, and likes jumping on the trampoline, swimming in the pool, and playing with his family’s seven pets. And if you didn’t pick up on it from his picture, he likes sharks, too. “They have really sharp teeth,” he explains. “And sometimes they can be blue in cartoons.”

An appendectomy last December could barely keep Grace Hessel away from the piano. Though she had to skip a recital, she kept on practicing and wanted to know all about the performance she’d missed.

At six years old, after only a year of playing, Grace has already competed in numerous regional and state music recitals and competitions. Most recently, she participated in the National Federation of Music Clubs competition in Milwaukee, where she got to ride an elevator for the first time.

Grace is pretty proud to show off a collection of tags hanging from her music bag, each one awarded for reaching a goal — reminders of how hard she’s worked on her piano skills. Grace says one of her favorite musical memories is from her first recital, when she played I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy. The crowd was “about one or two hundred or something,” she said casually.

She says she sometimes gets nervous when playing for large crowds, but for her, the biggest challenges are on the keys. She says, “Sometimes when you have to play it fast and then slow and then louder and then softer, it’s kinda hard.”

What’s next for Grace? She said she’s thinking about the cello, and added, “I would like to write my own music.”

Allison’s hair, which falls to her shoulders, hasn’t grown back to its old length since she donated it to make wigs for children with cancer last year. She said it used to be most of the way down her back. She gestured at her chin to demonstrate how short it was after the cut. It was weird at first, she said, but she thinks it was worth it.

Donating her hair is just one of the things Allison did to help her friend Sophia, who was diagnosed with cancer last year. When Allison found out that Sophia’s treatment would take place in Minnesota and cost a lot of money, she set up a lemonade stand with her friend Mallory to raise money for the girl. Together they raised more than $700.

Allison knows it’s important to help others. It feels good and improves people’s lives — and, if you are kind to others, they will be kind to you when you need it. This year, Allison will spend her time doing some of her favorite things: She’s going swimming, reading, and doing math. And of course, if someone needs help, she’ll be right there to lend a hand.

Max Bertrang likes to play baseball, but he likes it even more when one of the veterans at the group home near his house comes to see him play. He spends nearly every night visiting with the men at the home, listening to their stories and learning about what life was like decades ago. He helps them write out crossword puzzles, and watches Wheel of Fortune with them. Sometimes he joins them on group outings such as bowling, apple picking, and sometimes attending flag retirement ceremonies.

This summer he went with them to see the Blue Angels during the Chippewa Valley Air Show. Max knows it’s important to spend time with elders because of the wealth of knowledge they possess.

But they also enjoy hearing Max’s stories about playing outside in the summer and snowmobiling in the winter. When Max shot his first turkey this year, he was so excited he could hardly wait to get back to the home and tell “the guys.”