Sitting in a corner of Sloane Wolfe’s bedroom is a podium, the kind politicians or debate team members can often be seen standing behind.
It’s not a typical sight to come across in a teenage girl’s room. But for Wolfe, it makes all the sense in the world.
The 17-year-old Twin Valley High School senior expects to spend a lot of her future at podiums, delivering all sorts of addresses. Wolfe has her sights set on becoming a public figure, with aspirations to be the first female senator to represent Pennsylvania in Congress.
And to make that happen, she has spent her high school career honing her communication skills.
For her efforts, she has earned her recognition through winning the Reading Eagle Berks’ Best 2026 communications division.
“It is such an honor to be selected for this award,” she said. “It’s really nice to be recognized for emphasizing communication and having conversations across party lines in my own town, and one day I hope to communicate from a national level.”
Wolfe used her budding communication skills when she made headlines for filing a federal lawsuit against the Twin Valley School District in November 2023 for failing to recognize a student club she founded dedicated to changing the district’s mascot.
The suit claimed the district’s refusal to recognize the Retire the Raider club violated her First Amendment rights and the Equal Access Act.
Wolfe, along with her older sister and other Twin Valley students, led the campaign to end the use of the Raider mascot, arguing that the mascot is based on a stereotypical depiction of North American indigenous people.
They ended up winning.
“That experience definitely taught me a lot about my passion for equality and social justice,” she said. “I faced a lot of backlash for starting that initiative and making sure that minority viewpoints were represented in my school district. I knew, at the end of the day, doing the right thing meant the most to me.”
In addition to her legal victory, Wolfe has gained experience communicating through her involvement with several programs.
She serves as president of the Twin Valley High School National Honor Society, she works with the American Civil Liberties Union on student free speech issues and participates in forums hosted by the organization, she is an executive board member for the Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils and recently represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate Youth Program.
“All those experiences urbanized my perspective and showed me what else exists in this world,” she said.
As for the future, Wolfe is still undecided about where she will be attending classes in the fall, but she knows she will be pursuing a degree in political science and public policy.
“In today’s political climate, I think communication is one of the most important aspects of our society no matter what political viewpoints you have or what side of the aisle you stand on — you must foster meaningful dialogue across differences,” she said.