During Ryan Lehmeier's first days as Central Catholic’s head football coach, one kid stuck out.
“As soon as I got here, just how welcoming he was to me,” recalls Lehmeier. “Just a genuine, authentic person.”
That tends to be Connor Anderson's impression on most people, an approach he says begins with his love for his school.
“Being here changed me as a person and made me better,” he says.
But that attitude expands far past the Central Catholic walls. It includes his own neighborhood.
Rustic Ridge in Plum, which experienced incredible loss earlier this year. Anderson lives just three doors down from a home that exploded in August.
“I looked at my phone, and I got an alert of where the explosion was,” he says. “When I first saw it, I thought it was my dad's house.”
Rustic Ridge lost six neighbors that day, including close friends of the Anderson family.
“You can't even imagine it,” Anderson says. “You can't put words to it. Your whole world stops.”
Even in the first moments after his world came to a screeching halt, Anderson knew he had to help.
“I went to the volunteer fire department and all day I just helped unload water and do anything I could,” he says.
Service is at the root of almost everything he does. For his school. For his community. And soon for his country.
“I plan on attending Penn State and doing the Army ROTC program,” he says.
“I think it's all about being part of something bigger than yourself. First off, serving my country is very important to me, but also being able to protect those I love back home.”
No doubt making those back home very proud
“He is exactly what this school is all about: a man of faith, scholarship and service,” says Lehmeier. “I wish I had a thousand of him.”