Ingrid Dornbirer is a 17-year-old senior who is serving as the Design Editor at The Bright Ideas Beacon this school year for the second time.  Ingrid lives with her parents, 3 sisters, and naughty brother in a place she wishes was the Shire but is really a small farm in Ohio.  She enjoys playing with little kids, listening to thunderstorms, singing at the top of her lungs, acting in community theater productions, creating new worlds both by painting them on canvases and filling up blank pages with words, making sarcastic comments, traveling the world—and also eating chocolate. She loves English, literature and ancient Greek and Roman history.  Ingrid is beyond excited to be a part of this adventure!

Hadassah “Haddi” Suanne Iverson is a 17-year-old senior in high school. She is an extrovert and the youngest of five siblings. Haddi was born in China and moved to Michigan in 2003. Her family still lives in Michigan and is made up of two sisters, two brothers, her mom, and her dad. Haddi is an aunt to an adorable nephew named Atticus, the son of her brother and sister-in-law, who lives in Chicago. Haddi is serving a second time as a reporter for the Bright Ideas Beacon. Haddi loves to hang outside with her sister, Lydia, doing any type of activity, such as biking, badminton, volleyball, or reading in the hammock. Haddi will play her 8th and last year of volleyball on the Eagles varsity team. She loves watching Disney and Marvel-based movies, such as “Tangled”, “Zootopia”, and “Avengers: Endgame”. She also loves Christian fictional or non-fictional romance series and novels. She loves serving at church and serving others in her life. She hopes to encourage joy and laughter or provoke thoughtfulness for anyone who reads her work on The Beacon. 

Christian Zeliadt is a 16-year-old highschool junior who lives 40 minutes outside of Nashville, TN, with his two younger sisters and younger brother.  He has been a student of The Academy at Bright Ideas Press for three years now and is super excited to work with the Beacon staff.  He is homeschooled and enjoys world history, military history, and biology.  He plays piano and drums and is a member of the Nashville Youth Choir. Christian loves oceans and rainforests, particularly for their wildlife.  For hobbies, he enjoys reading fiction and nonfiction alike, from Redwall and Gregor the Overlander to books on the Civil War and marine life. He also enjoys: drawing; listening to film scores, jazz & swing, bluegrass; playing strategy board games like Axis & Allies, Risk, and Catan; running; and hiking the Appalachian Trail with his family. 

Gabriella Hunter is a twelve-year-old seventh grader who is thrilled about her first year on The Beacon staff. She lives in the middle of a cornfield in central Illinois with her mom, dad, younger sister, two dogs, and a cat. She enjoys art and is very creative, often spending her spare time painting, crocheting, and decorating cakes. She often has her nose stuck in a book. Some of her favorites include “Harry Potter”, “The Last Thirteen”, and anything by Rick Riordan. Her mom often says that her life is a musical because she is always singing. She enjoys many different types of music from acapella to modern music to some old country. This will be her ninth year of playing soccer, and she is very excited to be able to referee the younger games this season. Gabriella loves to write. She hopes that her experience with The Beacon staff will help her improve her writing skills and is excited to work on a team that loves God.

Garrett Hopkins is a fifteen-year-old sophomore and proud military kid. Garrett was born in Mobile, Alabama, but he has called six other locations home including Cape Cod, Syracuse, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, San Francisco, and his current home of Chesapeake, Virginia. Garrett is a devout Christian and finds joy in studying God’s creation as it pertains to science with astronomy being his favorite. Garrett’s other hobbies include analyzing military history and swimming. He has been a part of two swim teams and currently swims for TIDE Swimming. In his downtime, Garrett enjoys playing electric guitar and learning to play songs from his favorite artists.  Garrett has three siblings who have also been homeschooled. Garrett's sister, Avery, served on the Bright Ideas Beacon for two years. Garrett looks forward to following in her footsteps and hopes to sharpen his writing skills while reporting for the Beacon.  His life verse is Psalms 1:1-2, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night."