- Whiz Kid: 200 University City seventh-graders
- School: Brittany Woods Middle School
- Nominated By: Wyman Center
- Accomplishment: Last fall, the students chose community service learning projects they could take on to help their school or community. After much discussion, they committed to visiting local nursing homes throughout the area to write the life stories of the residents.
- Key To Awesomeness: The seventh-graders are local teens in Wyman’s Teen Outreach Program or TOP, a nationally replicated, evidence-based best practice program that enables teens to develop healthy behaviors, life skills and a sense of purpose.
The response of the residents to the teens’ project attests to the success of the initiative: after receiving the students at the nursing home in October, the residents decided to take their own day trip to Brittany Woods at the end of January.
In addition to receiving the benefits of community service learning, both the teens and the residents were exposed to social networks outside of their daily routines. The teens’ service to the older residents has created a bridge between the two communities that extends beyond the biographies.
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