Alleigh Dunagan is an Irish lass with a passion for God.

"I could talk about him forever," said the Manheim Central senior, who is a daughter of James and Malissa Dunagan of Manheim.

"I pray all the time that his will be done."

The family — including Kayleigh, 19, a student at Shippensburg University; Evie, 13; and Maggie, 11 — worships at House of Prayer for All People, a Pentecostal church in Dover, York County.

True to her faith, Dunagan feels called to serve others. She plans to attend York College in the fall to study for a bachelor of science degree in nursing.

"I always kind of wanted to be a nurse," she said. "I like helping people, taking care of them."

Dunagan shadowed a Lancaster General Hospital nurse as her summer senior project. Earlier, she helped care for her maternal grandmother who was ill with cancer.

The teen excels in academics at Manheim Central, where she ranks 22nd in her class of 231 students, has a grade-point average of 3.95 unweighted/4.6 weighted and consistently makes the distinguished honor roll.

"I'm an A grabber," she said.

Dunagan has taken honors courses throughout high school and this year is enrolled in honors chemistry II and honors biology II along with Advanced Placement Spanish and English.

"I really enjoy biology and chemistry," she said. "I like English, and Spanish is awesome.

"I don't really have a favorite subject. I work hard and try to do the best I can. I love learning. My mom ingrained that in us when we were little. She always read to us."

Her mother homeschooled her daughters when Dunagan was in sixth and seventh grades.

"It was cool," she said. "I liked it. I'm a homebody. It brought us closer together as a family."

Until seventh grade, Dunagan resided in York, then briefly in Harpersville, N.Y., before moving to Manheim in 10th grade.

"I like Manheim a lot," she said. "I like the countryside. It's a beautiful place. I feel God put us here for a reason. It was an easy transition for me. That was nice."

Outside the classroom, Dunagan quickly found her niche on the Manheim Central girls' volleyball team.

Her teammates named her co-captain this year, the team's best season in its nine-year history, advancing for the first time to the PIAA State Triple-A playoffs.

She began playing volleyball in seventh grade to keep up with her older sister.

"I wanted to do what she did."

She stayed with it because "I'm tall and I feel empowered."

Recently, she played in a charity game to raise funds for Haiti. She has coached volleyball at the middle school and Manheim Recreation Center.

After volleyball, music plays a big role in Dunagan's life. She took piano lessons until ninth grade and sang in Manheim Central's choral ensemble and musicals in 10th and 11th grades.

"I listen to music all the time," she said.

Dunagan baby-sits to earn spending money and is looking for a summer job to earn money for college.

In her spare time, she enjoys watching movies, especially musicals and old movies. "Gone with the Wind" is one of her favorites.

She is also an avid reader. " 'Pride and Prejudice' is one of my favorite books," she said. And she reads the Bible "a lot."