Paideia Students Recognized in Rough Draft Atlanta’s 20 Under 20

For 17 years, Rough Draft Atlanta, metro Atlanta’s leading hyperlocal media organization, has recognized students who “excel academically while giving back to the community” in their 20 Under 20 feature. Of the over 100 entries, 2 Paideia students were recognized for their contributions to our broader community – Kenzie Leonard ’27 and Chandler Kirkland ’26. 

As a student with dyslexia, Kenzie has learned to navigate school with strategies for success. In approaching her college search, Kenzie recognized the difficulty of finding information about accommodations, testing and accessible services on college campuses. This experience drove her to help students with similar needs. Kenzie developed a video series combining interviews with education accessibility experts and online tools to assess programs and navigate the transition to college. She pitched the idea to the International Dyslexia Association Georgia Teen Board, and then spent this summer writing, producing and hosting the IDA College Q&A Interview YouTube series. 

Kenzie was invited to be a panelist at DyslexiaCon 2025, where she shared her personal experience and presented systemic recommendations to an engaged national audience. “I’m still learning, but I’ve seen how much it matters when students feel understood and supported,” she said. “If I can help create even a small sense of clarity or confidence for someone else, that feels meaningful to me.”

Chandler Kirkland ’26 and Pat Rosenzweig of the The Connections School of Atlanta were 20 Under 20 runners up. The duo have been involved in a peer-to-peer partnership between Paideia and Connections, where students connect around shared values of acceptance and inclusion of neurodiverse and neurotypical individuals.

Congratulations to Kenzie, Chandler and Pat on this recognition of their leadership and positive change within our community.