We-Ha–West Hartford Magazine’s seventh annual ‘Terrific Teens’ spotlights local teens who are making a difference in the community – and for this year’s photo shoot we headed to Westfarms.

By Aaron Green, photos by Todd Fairchild

Even though this is West Hartford Magazine’s seventh annual feature on local teens in West Hartford, the task of choosing the young adults to interview hasn’t gotten any easier.

Our goal has always been to find the kids who capture attention not just because they earned the best grades, or the most points in a game, but because they are all around good kids. As you can imagine, there is no short supply of eligible students.

This year features 2017 graduates who hail from Conard, Hall, Kingswood Oxford, and Northwest Catholic. Our tradition is to pick one male and one female from each school – but the male from Hall has a twin brother, so we had to be inclusive!

Why Westfarms? We strive to seek unique areas of town that maybe have history, or significance to the families. Since Westfarms has been a part of our collective history for over 40 years, it provided an interesting back drop for our photo shoot this year.

Here is the first male from Hall, a twin.

Tanner Kriedel – “Future Police Officer”

Tanner graduated from Hall High School and is now majoring in criminal justice at UConn, with the goal of becoming a police officer.

One of his favorite hobbies is flying drones and using them to take unique photographs from varied perspectives. “You can get a lot of photos from different angles than if you were shooting from the ground. And [it gives you] more flexibility,” Tanner said.

Tanner is also a car fanatic – a fan of driving as well as admiring special vehicles. To Tanner and his friends, who often attended “Cars and Coffees” events in West Hartford, cars are pieces of art and not just functional vehicles.

At Hall, Tanner was a member of the Select Choir and also volunteered at Empty Bowls, a program that helps feed the homeless. He has also helped out with the Best of West Hartford and Taste of Blue Back Square – and some of his drone photographs have been published.

Tanner has a twin brother, Ben, and going to different colleges is the first time the two have really been separated. He said his biggest role models in his life are his parents – who gave him and his brother advice and tips on how to succeed.

Tanner said one of his favorite quotes is from the inventor Rabin Dranach Tagore: “You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”

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