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THARROS PLACE TEEN BOARD
The Tharros Place Teen Board
The Tharros Place Teen Board is a group of dedicated individuals from various high schools in the Savannah/Chatham County area who assist in our mission of cultivating a culture of courage. Learn more about the Teen Board below. Visit our TikTok (@tharros.place) to see some videos our Teen Board has created!
The Tharros Place Teen Board is a group of dedicated individuals from various high schools in the Savannah/Chatham County area who assist in our mission of cultivating a culture of courage. Learn more about the Teen Board below. Visit our TikTok (@tharros.place) to see some videos our Teen Board has created!
TEEN BOARD LEADERSHIP
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AJ Shively, Teen Board President
AJ Shively is a senior at New Hampstead High School. They are in the school's crochet club, art club, and they're a member of the National Honor's Society. Outside of school, they enjoy playing video games and baking. |
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Asa Clark, Teen Board Vice President
Asa Clark is a junior at Savannah Arts Academy with a love for special effects makeup and theater. She has participated in events with the 100 Black Men program, where she spoke about supporting youth and communities through programs that focus on health, education, and growth in the African American community. |
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Avery Helmly, Teen Board Secretary
Avery Helmly is a senior at Savannah Country Day. She plays volleyball and volunteers with Caretta Research and PACK. She loves hanging out with friends, being at the beach, and traveling. |
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Anson Daniel, Teen Board Social Media Manager
Anson Daniel is a student at Baylor School, where she plays tennis and enjoys spending time with friends. She loves shopping and exploring new styles. Anson is very excited to be a part of the Teen Board and looks forward to contributing to its mission. |
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Layne Helmly, Teen Board Social Media Manager
Layne Helmly is a junior at Savannah Country Day. She plays volleyball and volunteers with Cure and Caretta. She loves to shop and hang out with friends. |
TEEN BOARD MEMBERS
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Maddie Balthrop, Teen Board Member
Maddie Balthrop is a junior at Savannah Arts Academy. She plays volleyball, runs track, and is a student ambassador. Outside of school, she loves to read, spend time outdoors, and hang out with friends and family. |
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Aurianna Beamon, Teen Board Member
Aurianna Beamon is a Sophmore at St. Vincent’s academy. She plays volleyball. Outside of school she enjoys hanging out with friends, shopping and going to the beach. |
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Ansley Cox, Teen Board Member
Ansley Cox is junior at St. Vincent’s Academy. She does basketball cheer. Out of school she enjoys babysitting and hanging out with friends. |
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Helen Culver, Teen Board Member
Helen Culver is a senior at Savannah Country Day School. She plays tennis, is on student council, and also volunteers with The Ronald McDonald House and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She enjoys hanging out with friends and playing pickleball. |
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Jaidin Magwood, Teen Board Member
Jaidin Magwood is a 11th grader at Groves High School. She dances and sings in church. Out of school, she enjoys going to the pool at eating out at restaurants. |
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Anna Kate Prescott, Teen Board Member
Anna Kate Prescott is a sophomore at Savannah Country Day School. She does competitive cheer outside of school. She enjoys reading, traveling, and hanging out with friends! |
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Vivian Roach, Teen Board Member
Vivian Roach is a sophomore at Saint Vincent’s Academy. In school she loves to play volleyball, and she loves literature and history classes. Outside of school she loves to swim, go to the beach/pool, and she loves to do drawings and working with fibers. |
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Orly Standing, Teen Board Member
Orly Standing is a senior St. Andrew's School. She plays volleyball and soccer as well as doing mock trial. She enjoys traveling and hanging out with friends. |
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Lyla Wilcox, Teen Board Member
Lyla Wilcox is a junior at St Vincent’s Academy. She plays flag football and is on the mock trial team. Outside of school she enjoys hanging out with her friends and being outside and meeting new people. |
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Harper Wilcox, Teen Board Member
Harper Wilcox is a junior at St. Vincent’s Academy. She plays lacrosse, flag football, and does mock trial. Outside of school she enjoys hanging out with friends and being on the beach. |
Interview with the 2025 Tharros Place Teen Board's President and Vice President
The Tharros Place Teen Board is a group of dedicated teens from various high schools in the Savannah/Chatham County area who assist in the mission of cultivating a culture of courage for the residents of Tharros Place, a local nonprofit serving underage survivors of human trafficking.
“We started the Teen Board because we wanted input from Chatham County youth about what youth are interested in,” said Kate Templeton Edwards, Outreach Coordinator for Tharros Place. “It's really inspirational to see Savannah-area teens working so hard to support others in their community.”
Teen Board members help out with social media and plan fun events for Tharros Place residents like the Sneaker Ball and Spring Formal. They’re also there to encourage students to get involved in their communities and to bring a sense of normalcy and camaraderie to the Tharros Place residents.
We recently talked to AJ Shively, a senior at New Hampstead High School who serves as Teen Board President, and Asa Clark, a Savannah Arts Academy junior who serves as Teen Board Vice President, about their experiences. Learn more about what they do with the Tharros Place Teen Board here:
Q: How did you find out about Tharros Place?
AJ: I was told about it in my sophomore year of high school. A couple of my teachers recommended me and wanted some students to join the teen board to get involved with survivors of human trafficking. I got an email from Kate and came to the first meeting and thought it was a really good idea and I liked what they were about. I liked it so much I’m the president now! I’m all about helping out around the community and I have time.
Asa: I started around the beginning of sophomore year. Kate and I did a show at Savannah Children’s Theatre. I was homeschooled at the time and she asked if I would like to get involved. My father knew about Tharros Place because he’s a counselor at Savannah-Chatham E-Learning Academy (SCELA), so I was really excited. Being homeschooled, I wasn’t very involved in the community. I got really excited about it and my friend was invited as well. At the first meeting, all the members were talking with each other. It was fun and professional at the same time. I was very excited to be involved in this.
Q: What did you know about human trafficking before you got involved with the Tharros Place Teen Board?
AJ: I wouldn’t say I knew a whole lot, but I did know it was happening, since Savannah is one of the major ports. I was aware but I didn’t know all of the statistics and how common it is. And how easy it is to ignore and overlook it – it can happen in plain sight and you just wouldn’t know.
Asa: I didn’t know a lot about it, either. I knew it was happening and it was wrong and I didn’t realize how common it was. It was just something that isn’t talked about as much as it should be, and that’s essential.
Q: What kinds of things do you do on the teen board?
AJ: We do exercises, we learn about statistics, what it is, how to spot it, how common it is, how scary it is. We learned a lot about the girls and what they went through. We organize things for Instagram and Sneaker Ball – like a spring homecoming – and we did a prom. It was so fun. We had a Christmas party at the facility. It was nice seeing the girls. In a more casual setting, they’re more approachable. We help organize the dances, set up the food, the theme, and the music. We work with the girls and discuss ideas and playlists and Pinterest boards. We sit and talk and make bracelets and get to know each other.
Asa: I was here for the spring formal and prom. A dance instructor came and all the girls were laughing and having fun and I feel like we all connected. You know, first meetings can be a little awkward, but once you’re in a more casual setting, it just builds connection. We had a silent disco party, which was so much fun. The girls came and we had our headphones on and there was food and people brought cookies and it was just another connecting experience for all of us.
AJ: We make fun TikToks but also informative ones about the statistics related to human trafficking and what people should be on the lookout for if someone is being trafficked or in danger. But we also do fun ones about the teen board and dances. We helped make posters and banners.
Q: What surprised you as you worked? What did you learn?
AJ: The amount of girls here in the facility surprised me because that was only Tharros Place and that’s not all of the people impacted by human trafficking. And they’re all our age – that made me sad because I could have gone to school with all of these girls and not known what was going on in their lives.
Asa: For me, it was very surreal because when you think of human trafficking, you don’t think of where you are now. I went to SCELA at the time and that’s where these girls go. It was very hard to swallow when I realized that I could be in school with people and not know what they go through. Being a part of this really feels like you’re making a change.
Q: What would you tell people about Tharros Place?
AJ: Everyone that runs Tharros Place is so nice and welcoming and fun. It’s a dark topic, but as long as we take it seriously but have an air of lightness, we can make a change and impact people’s lives in a positive way. It’s sad that people have to go through something like that, but I’m glad we can do something that makes their lives a little bit easier.
Asa: It’s community, and that’s what I was really longing for. This really healed that longing. Even for the girls, it gives them that normal high school experience and we just feel like girls together. We’re just wanting to help.
AJ: When we’re hanging out at dances, you don’t really think about how they have suffered something really, really bad. This is just a normal teenage girl and we’re going to dance and eat food and laugh and make connections. They’re really nice girls. I love being around them, I love talking to them, and learning about them as people.
Q: What are your next steps?
AJ: I would like to become a teacher. I like educating people. I like seeing the look in people’s eyes when they learn something new; it makes me really happy. Education is not something we can have too much of. I would love it if we lived in a world where we could all have intelligent conversations with each other and understand each other.
Asa: I want to be a journalist and I also want to be in the film industry. Acting is my major at Savannah Arts. I want to sharpen my tools.
Q: Any final thoughts?
AJ: The girls at Tharros Place don’t even begin to encompass the amount of people that this truly happens to around the world. It’s sad this is a thing we have to address, but we can help them feel like they’re included. We don’t want them to feel outcast. We want them to know this is their community. We want them to feel safe here and we want them to feel happy.
For more information about Tharros Place and how to join the Teen Board, contact Kate Edwards at [email protected].
Nancy Fullbright, Chickadee Communications
“We started the Teen Board because we wanted input from Chatham County youth about what youth are interested in,” said Kate Templeton Edwards, Outreach Coordinator for Tharros Place. “It's really inspirational to see Savannah-area teens working so hard to support others in their community.”
Teen Board members help out with social media and plan fun events for Tharros Place residents like the Sneaker Ball and Spring Formal. They’re also there to encourage students to get involved in their communities and to bring a sense of normalcy and camaraderie to the Tharros Place residents.
We recently talked to AJ Shively, a senior at New Hampstead High School who serves as Teen Board President, and Asa Clark, a Savannah Arts Academy junior who serves as Teen Board Vice President, about their experiences. Learn more about what they do with the Tharros Place Teen Board here:
Q: How did you find out about Tharros Place?
AJ: I was told about it in my sophomore year of high school. A couple of my teachers recommended me and wanted some students to join the teen board to get involved with survivors of human trafficking. I got an email from Kate and came to the first meeting and thought it was a really good idea and I liked what they were about. I liked it so much I’m the president now! I’m all about helping out around the community and I have time.
Asa: I started around the beginning of sophomore year. Kate and I did a show at Savannah Children’s Theatre. I was homeschooled at the time and she asked if I would like to get involved. My father knew about Tharros Place because he’s a counselor at Savannah-Chatham E-Learning Academy (SCELA), so I was really excited. Being homeschooled, I wasn’t very involved in the community. I got really excited about it and my friend was invited as well. At the first meeting, all the members were talking with each other. It was fun and professional at the same time. I was very excited to be involved in this.
Q: What did you know about human trafficking before you got involved with the Tharros Place Teen Board?
AJ: I wouldn’t say I knew a whole lot, but I did know it was happening, since Savannah is one of the major ports. I was aware but I didn’t know all of the statistics and how common it is. And how easy it is to ignore and overlook it – it can happen in plain sight and you just wouldn’t know.
Asa: I didn’t know a lot about it, either. I knew it was happening and it was wrong and I didn’t realize how common it was. It was just something that isn’t talked about as much as it should be, and that’s essential.
Q: What kinds of things do you do on the teen board?
AJ: We do exercises, we learn about statistics, what it is, how to spot it, how common it is, how scary it is. We learned a lot about the girls and what they went through. We organize things for Instagram and Sneaker Ball – like a spring homecoming – and we did a prom. It was so fun. We had a Christmas party at the facility. It was nice seeing the girls. In a more casual setting, they’re more approachable. We help organize the dances, set up the food, the theme, and the music. We work with the girls and discuss ideas and playlists and Pinterest boards. We sit and talk and make bracelets and get to know each other.
Asa: I was here for the spring formal and prom. A dance instructor came and all the girls were laughing and having fun and I feel like we all connected. You know, first meetings can be a little awkward, but once you’re in a more casual setting, it just builds connection. We had a silent disco party, which was so much fun. The girls came and we had our headphones on and there was food and people brought cookies and it was just another connecting experience for all of us.
AJ: We make fun TikToks but also informative ones about the statistics related to human trafficking and what people should be on the lookout for if someone is being trafficked or in danger. But we also do fun ones about the teen board and dances. We helped make posters and banners.
Q: What surprised you as you worked? What did you learn?
AJ: The amount of girls here in the facility surprised me because that was only Tharros Place and that’s not all of the people impacted by human trafficking. And they’re all our age – that made me sad because I could have gone to school with all of these girls and not known what was going on in their lives.
Asa: For me, it was very surreal because when you think of human trafficking, you don’t think of where you are now. I went to SCELA at the time and that’s where these girls go. It was very hard to swallow when I realized that I could be in school with people and not know what they go through. Being a part of this really feels like you’re making a change.
Q: What would you tell people about Tharros Place?
AJ: Everyone that runs Tharros Place is so nice and welcoming and fun. It’s a dark topic, but as long as we take it seriously but have an air of lightness, we can make a change and impact people’s lives in a positive way. It’s sad that people have to go through something like that, but I’m glad we can do something that makes their lives a little bit easier.
Asa: It’s community, and that’s what I was really longing for. This really healed that longing. Even for the girls, it gives them that normal high school experience and we just feel like girls together. We’re just wanting to help.
AJ: When we’re hanging out at dances, you don’t really think about how they have suffered something really, really bad. This is just a normal teenage girl and we’re going to dance and eat food and laugh and make connections. They’re really nice girls. I love being around them, I love talking to them, and learning about them as people.
Q: What are your next steps?
AJ: I would like to become a teacher. I like educating people. I like seeing the look in people’s eyes when they learn something new; it makes me really happy. Education is not something we can have too much of. I would love it if we lived in a world where we could all have intelligent conversations with each other and understand each other.
Asa: I want to be a journalist and I also want to be in the film industry. Acting is my major at Savannah Arts. I want to sharpen my tools.
Q: Any final thoughts?
AJ: The girls at Tharros Place don’t even begin to encompass the amount of people that this truly happens to around the world. It’s sad this is a thing we have to address, but we can help them feel like they’re included. We don’t want them to feel outcast. We want them to know this is their community. We want them to feel safe here and we want them to feel happy.
For more information about Tharros Place and how to join the Teen Board, contact Kate Edwards at [email protected].
Nancy Fullbright, Chickadee Communications
Graduated Members
Cypress Daniel- John Paul II Catholic School
Daniela Medina Gonzalez- New Hampstead High School
Naimah Hall- Woodville Tompkins High School
Stella Potts- St. Andrew's School
Isabella Schiffhauer- New Hampstead High School
Crystin Walker- Woodville Tompkins High School
Daniela Medina Gonzalez- New Hampstead High School
Naimah Hall- Woodville Tompkins High School
Stella Potts- St. Andrew's School
Isabella Schiffhauer- New Hampstead High School
Crystin Walker- Woodville Tompkins High School
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