Photo by Emily Shur
Miranda Cosgrove has a few things in common with the 15 other extraordinary teens on these pages. The actress, 18, recently graduated from high school and is working on getting her driver’s license. And, like the members of PARADE’s All-America Service Team, she is committed to public service, as an active supporter of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
Of course, she’s also the star of Nickelodeon’s
iCarly
, one of cable’s highest-rated TV shows. Cosgrove knows her celebrity makes her a role model, and she takes that part of her job seriously, saying, “I want to get the message out that everybody can make a difference.” This spring, she appeared in a Nickelodeon anti-bullying campaign—when she was in grade school, she herself was a victim. “There were days when the bullying really bothered me. What helped was hanging out with my friends and focusing on the good stuff.”
These days, the “good stuff” starts with her work for St. Jude, where she visits patients and assists in fund-raising. “They tell you to give back because it helps other people, but you also get a lot out of it.” It’s a sentiment she shares with winners Grace Li and Joe Burgum. Thanks to her charitable efforts, Cosgrove was asked by generationOn, the youth service division of the nonprofit Points of Light Institute, to speak at a March gala honoring President George H.W. Bush. (PARADE joined with generationOn to pick this year’s
All-America Service Team
.)
Like her cyber-savvy TV character, who hosts a Web show, Cosgrove recognizes the power of the Internet: She writes about St. Jude on her Facebook page and tweets about it to 860,000-plus Twitter followers. But like most teens, she uses her phone and computer mainly to connect with loved ones, texting her friends and checking in with her dog. She laughs, “I hurt my dad’s feelings the last time I was on tour—I kept asking him to video-chat, but I just wanted him to put my dog on-screen!”
Her dad had better prep the pooch for more Internet time—Cosgrove is currently touring in support of her CD
High Maintenance
. Looking ahead, she’s excited about taking her road test, getting a car (“I don’t care what kind; I just want it to, like, move”), filming another season of
iCarly
, and going to college (NYU or USC), where she plans to juggle classes and an acting career. She says, “I don’t know how that will work out, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
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Watch an exclusive video featuring Miranda, Grace, and Joe, and go behind the scenes of their photo shoot:
Meet Parade's All-America Service Team!