Pictured are Isaiah Keys with teacher Alice Fadale.
Isaiah Keys has beaten the odds, and is asking for help with keeping him on a winning streak.
Keys, Warren High School freshman, could be the next student to tour The Planetary Society in California with Bill Nye The Science Guy, as well as appear in Reader’s Digest and receive $20,000 to invest in his education. “Bill Nye the Science Guy” encourages young learners to explore big ideas in order to shape a smarter, brighter future. America’s Favorite Student will get an exclusive meet-and-greet with him.
Keys is an honor student with a love for science and obviously the subject in which he excels. These achievements have gone outside of the expectations for him since being diagnosed with level 3 autism. His former teacher, Alice Fadale was Keys’ teacher for 3 years in the IU5 Early Intervention program. She shared some memories from a decade ago when Keys was in her classroom as a toddler. Fadale said, “He was the most beautiful and amazing child. He was so smart but just wasn’t sure how to communicate this to anyone at the time. He had a lot of energy and was very busy which early on made it difficult for others to see how smart he really was. It did not take him long to excel in these (developmental) areas.”
Fadale said that behaviors changed for the better after offering activities to intrigue his higher level functioning.
Keys was born with club foot and torticollis and at just one month old had surgery, along with more to follow at the age of 4. He had casts on both feet and when taken outdoors on a walk, Fadale and his mother, Stacy Butterfield, saw how he looked at the world with a wide-eyed wonder.
Isaiah Keys in his younger years.
Butterfield said, “His 5-year-old self and his 14-year-old self are so different and it’s thanks to our village in the beginning that formed our foundation with Early Intervention being the key factor.” Sharing that he did not talk until age 5 with zero focus from birth to age 4, but his retention ability was amazing. Some of the teachers also included Mrs. Dena Pearson from second grade, and Mrs. Jillian Johnson in kindergarten. “They took my tornado and taught him to be still,” shared Butterfield laughing. Having a love for science, it is no wonder that Keys’ favorite high school teacher is science teacher Mr. Eric Campbell.
Currently second in the quarterfinals and up for the top five, Keys is asking for the community to vote for him to be the preliminary winner of his group.
The quarterfinal round ends on May 7; with the semifinals round beginning May 8 through 14, and finals begin May 15.
For those wishing to vote, the link is: https://americasfavstudent.org/2026/isaiah-19
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