Whiz Kid

Vicki Klein Teaches Kung Fu to Other Kids

She also organized a fundraising event for diabetes research.

Name:  Vicki Klein    School:  Senior at the Pennsylvania Cyber School Accomplishment:  Assistant instructor and second-level black belt in Kung Fu Key to Awesomeness:  Vicki has been involved in Kung Fu at Lehigh Valley Martial Arts (LVMA) in Emmaus for 10 years. She continues to work at advancing to a third-level black belt, while also teaching classes. “It’s a lot of hard work,” she said. “You need to be here [LVMA] at least twice a week in order to learn enough to advance.” Vicki is a busy teen-ager. She organized a diabetes fundraising event in July for diabetes research. She participates in Parkour, an organization designed to help people overcome obstacles in their life. One of her favorite hobbies is roller skating. At one time, …

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Emmaus High School Student wins Poetry Contest

Submission about the death of her grandmother takes first place.

Remembrance By Sarah Goldy-Brown I come up the stairs and pull open that red door, I look around and remember the reunion, our last time together, I turn and come into your house, the last time for awhile. I find my eyes frantically searching…for you. You should be sitting in your chair reading a book. You should be staying up waiting for us. You should be there but you aren’t. I feel you everywhere but you aren’t there. I sit down on your chair and hear noises in the kitchen. My face lights up as my mind deceives me. My heart cries when I remember. Memories inundate me: the joyous out of tune melodies and timely expressions of sorrow. I try to grasp onto reality but it slips through my fingers as I sail away in remembrance.

Whiz Kid

EHS Grad Teaches Tennis to Autistic Kids

He plans to work for NASA some day.

Name: Akshay Damany          School: 2011 Emmaus High School graduate and freshman at Lehigh University, Bethlehem. Accomplishment: He was named the District 11 Boys Tennis Scholar-Athlete of 2011. Key to Awesomeness: Akshay was one of 18 boys selected in District 11 for his achievements in tennis, academics and community service.  He finished the tennis season this year 11-3 at No. 1 in singles in the Lehigh Valley Conference.  Akshay was ranked as 12th in his graduating class of 662 students, with a GPA of 4.25. He started a charity organization teaching tennis to autistic children in 2010. It began with four students, and has now risen to nine. He will attend Lehigh University this fall and study astrophysics and aerospace technology as…

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Whiz Kid

LMMS Student of the Month is a Role Model

Her grades, attendance and attitude caused her teachers to nominate her for the award.

Name: Brielle Burkos School: Eighth-grader at Lower Macungie Middle School Accomplishment: May Student of the Month Key to Awesomeness: Good grades, good attendance and a good attitude all helped Brielle’s teachers elect her as the Student of the Month in May. They also said she is an excellent role model for other students in the school. Brielle likes math, because she “is good at it.” She also enjoys social studies “because the teacher makes class time fun with lots of activities.” When not in school, she likes to play with her cousins and her dog, Snickers. Her dog, she said, is a rat terrier –“he looks like a Chihuahua, but is a little bigger.” Brielle is also a member of the Emmaus Youth Association girls basketball team. Upon …

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Donna Hosfeld

8:48 am on Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Congrats, Brielle! Keep up the good work! Your future is BRIGHT!   more ›

Whiz Kid

Emmaus Girl Crowned Miss Teen PA International

Kaitlyn Lucas has a positive, energetic attitude about life.

Name:  Kaitlyn Lucas School:  Emmaus High School junior. Her favorite subjects are social studies, history and math. Though some teens find high school to be challenging, Kaitlyn said she is “thriving in high school and absolutely loves it.” She is undecided whether to become a physical therapist or secondary education teacher upon graduation. Accomplishment:  Kaitlyn was crowned Miss Teen Pennsylvania International on March 26, 2011. Key to Awesomeness:  She was 15 years old upon receiving her crown and banner from the 2010 Miss Teen Pennsylvania International, Sophia Medairy.  According to Kaitlyn, contestants must compete in four categories, earning points as follows: “The quick wardrobe changes,” said Kaitlyn, “is a little bit like …

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Whiz Kid

Fourth-graders Show Every Animal is Important to the Food Chain

Even stepping on an ant hill makes an impact.

Name: Caroline Junker and Julia Rakowsky  School: Fourth grade participants in Lincoln Elementary School’s Technical Fair. Accomplishment: Caroline and Julia created a newsletter about animal extinction in the Desktop Publishing category of the technical fair. They went on to compete in the Technical Fair at the Intermediate Unit 21 in Schnecksville on May 4.  Key to Awesomeness: Through researching information and pictures on Web sites, the girls designed a newsletter about endangered and extinct animals throughout the world. Some of the animals included a wolverine and a spinner dolphin, both of which are endangered species; and the Tasmanian wolf, which is now extinct.  Caroline and Julia also included in their newsletter ways in which …

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Whiz Kid

Budding Botanist Experiments With pea Plants

Middle schooler's science fair project shows electromagnetic fields affect plant life.

Name: Alexa Grazio School: 8th grade student at Eyer Middle School Accomplishment: First place winner at the Region 3 science fair of the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science in the category of botany. This region includes Schuylkill, Berks, Lehigh, Carbon and Northampton counties  Key to Awesomeness: Alexa’s project was “The Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) on Pea Plant Growth and Development.” She ran two trials and experimented with six trays of plants with different levels of EMFs. The results were that the EMFs definitely did have an adverse effect on the pea plants. Alexa’s favorite subject in school is science. She plays on both the school’s volleyball team and a school club volleyball team. She plays lacrosse for the …

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Whiz Kid

Success is on Their Menu

Fifth-graders use computer skills to win desktop publishing competition by creating diner menu.

Names: Gretchen Eugster and Victoria Feinberg School: Fifth graders at Lincoln Elementary School. Accomplishment: Won in their category at the Lincoln School Technology Fair. They went on to compete at the Technical Fair at the Intermediate Unit 21 in Schnecksville on May 4. Key to Awesomeness: Gretchen and Victoria created a menu for a diner in the Desktop Publishing category of the competition. Through research on various Web sites, the girls had to design a restaurant menu including foods available, meal deals, pictures and prices.   They learned many computer skills working on the project, such as researching on the Web, making pictures, following formats and more. They said they began their project rather late, with only three days …

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Whiz Kid

Scout Troops Clean up Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy for Earth Day

People are really messy.

Name: Boy Scout Troop 31 of Old Zionsville and Brownie Troop 6788 of Macungie  Accomplishment: These scout troops worked together to clean up the area along the Molasses Creek in the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy on April 16 as part of Pennsylvania’s Earth Day activities.  Key to Awesomeness: Under gray skies, with the threat of rain looming in the air, these youths gathered together to clean up garbage and debris left by others at the Wildlife Sanctuary along the Molasses Creek near Schwenksville. They trudged through the wet, swampy area picking up trash along the water and roadside. The scouts found lots of bottles, paper, and other trash. “This is disgusting,” said one young girl as she picked up a wet, soggy bag. “People are really …

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Whiz Kid

Middle-schooler Films Teacher Yawning in Class

She won a first-place science prize for study about contagious yawning.

Name: Brianna McGovern  School: Eighth-grade student at Eyer Middle School Accomplishment: First-place winner in the category behavioral science at the Region 3 science fair of the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science. This region includes Schuylkill, Berks, Lehigh, Carbon and Northampton counties  Key to Awesomeness: Her project was entitled “Is There Such a Thing as a Contagious Yawn?” She had to find a way to prove that contagious yawning was real. Brianna then filmed a class, watching to see if they would yawn after seeing their teacher do it. She did this for six days – three days with the teacher yawning and three days to see if anyone yawned naturally.  “My results came out more than I had expected,” she said, “I hypothesized …

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