During the state round of the National History Day (www.nhd.org) competition, Lawrence Middle School (LMS) 8th grader James Gow qualified for the National Level in the Junior Individual Website division. Over 430 New Jersey students competed in five different categories during the day-long event. During the week of June 9, Gow will represent LMS (and the state of NJ) at the University of Maryland when he competes with more than 110 students nationwide in the junior website division. Gow's web site topic is, "Martin Luther: A Turning Point in the Political and Religious History of the World." …

Lawrence Middle School (LMS) Model United Nations Club recently competed in the 8th Annual Middle School Model U.N. Conference held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. The club competed with over 80 schools from the United States, Canada, Cayman Islands, Ecuador, Ghana, Italy, Panama, Taiwan, Turkey, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan. Members of the Model UN Club represented countries of Canada and Georgia in several UN committees such as the General Assembly, World Health Organization, and UNICEF and had great success in public speaking, debating, negotiating, and writing resolutions…

Kayla Jackson 11 years old Sixth-grader at Lawrence Intermediate School Founder of the Kayla Cares If You Are Cold (KCC) blanket drive   When Kayla was 9 years old she went into the attic of her house and saw her old butterfly blanket. She said, “I want to donate my old butterfly blanket.” Her mom, Kathi Jackson, asked her, “Why don’t we see if other friends have blankets they can also give away.” From that simple beginning was born the Kayla Cares If You Are Cold (KCC) blanket drive. During that first year, Kayla collected 660 blankets. Kayla was determined to collect even more blankets the …

Taylor Holt Entering fourth-grader at Lawrence Intermediate School 2011 Eldridge Park Elementary School Caring Award winner and competitive dancer Taylor Holt is best described as a fun-loving kid with a lot of talent and a compassionate heart. Through the Glen Rock Dance Shoppe in Ewing, Taylor is a competitive dancer. Her dance styles include tap, jazz, lyrical, hiphop, and ballet. She also dances solo in tap. In addition to her talent as a dancer, she is also a very caring person. So much so that this year she was chosen by her peers at Eldridge Park Elementary School as the winner of the …

Reagan, Emma and Sophie, all 5-years-old Kindergarteners Organized an Alex’s Lemonade Stand to raise money to combat childhood cancer Reagan, Emma and Sophie are good friends. They are playful 5-year-old girls who are filled with compassion and understanding. Recently they told their mothers they wanted to have a lemonade stand during their neighborhood yard sale. When asked if they wanted to buy something with the money or “donate to other children their age who are sick, they did not hesitate in their response. They all wanted to donate the money that is made,” said Gemma Amiott, mother to …

* Unified Sports Team at Lawrence Middle School * Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Students Created during the 2008-2009 school year to expand sports opportunities for students with special needs and increase their inclusion in the community, the Unified Sports Team was designed is now in its third year at Lawrence Middle School. The program, sponsored by Special Olympics of New Jersey, teams special needs students with students of the same age from general education classes. This year about 30 students participated in the program – half with special needs. The program participants met throughout …

Mariefred Evans 13 years old (almost 14) Eighth-grader at Lawrence Middle School Active volunteer and president of LMS Student Government “Enthusiastic,” “extraordinary,” and “a joy” are all words used to describe Mariefred Evans by those who know her. An eighth-grader at Lawrence Middle School, Mariefred is the president of the LMS student government, a captain of the LMS cheerleading squad, and a member of the school’s track team. She has placed on the High Honor Roll for the last two years and volunteers with the Special Olympics through LMS. Last summer, she worked as a volunteer with the…

Jay Macheda 17 years old Junior at Lawrence High School As part of his Boy Scout Eagle Leadership Award completed "Fire Hydrant Maps” for Lawrence Township Fire Districts 1 and 2 Jay Macheda has spent most of his 17 years surrounded by the emergency services. His mom, Cathi, was an EMT (emergency medical technician) and chief of the Lawrence Township First Aid Squad until she retired from that position in 1993. His dad, Jim, was an EMT and served as assistant chief of the first aid squad and has been a volunteer firefighter for 32 years with the Slackwood and Lawrenceville fire companies. He …

15 years old Freshman at Lawrence High School Raised $600 to raise awareness about world hunger Priscilla Bostock, 15, shows all of us how it is just as important to raise awareness about a cause through actions as it is through fundraising. As an active member of the Youth Group at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Princeton, Priscilla participated in The 30-Hour Famine – an event organized by World Vision to draw attention to the terrible plight of millions of children around the world who don't get enough to eat.  Each of the 11 members of the Youth Group who took part were asked to raise …

12 years old  Seventh-grader at Lawrence Middle School Straight-A student who loves to be on stage Caroline Bohra shows us all you can do anything you put your heart and mind into accomplishing. She is a straight-A student and on the High Honor Roll at Lawrence Middle School. Previously, while at Lawrence Intermediate School, she was an MVP.  She excels in math as well as writing and participates in her school’s Enrichment Challenge program. Currently in seventh-grade she is learning algebra in advanced math at LMS. Last fall, she went to Mercer County Community College to hear a lecture …

Adam LeCompte 10 years old Fifth-grader at Lawrence Intermediate School Winner of 2011 USA Diving Region 1 Championship and the 2010 Presidential Physical Fitness Award at LIS Raised over $800 for St. Baldrick’s Foundation Adam LeCompte is a natural-born diver and overall athlete. At 18 months he first jumped off a diving board –before he even knew how to swim. When he was 4, he performed a flip and won a dive meet in the 8 & Under age group. He was the 8 & Under diving champion for the Princeton Area Swim & Dive Association (PASDA) in 2006, 2008, and 2009 and was undefeated in the PASDA 2010…

Travis, 18, Lawrence High School senior Josh, 16, Lawrence High School sophomore Zach, 11, Lawrence Intermediate School sixth-grader All three are highly involved with the Lawrence Nature Center More often than not when it comes to kids and the environment, and in particular at the Lawrence Nature Center, one group immediately comes to mind: the Dutko Family. The Dutko boys – Travis, Josh and Zach – have been helping with the development and implementation of projects at the nature preserve in southern Lawrence Township for most of their young lives. The eldest boy, Travis, is a senior at …

Eliot Nagele  18-years-old 12th-grader at Lawrence High School Founded the annual “Can-O-Jam” benefit Working on his Eagle Scout project Co-founder of jazz-fusion band (KOWOP) Eliot Nagele, 18, a senior at Lawrence High School, has been taking private piano lessons for 12 years. Through his lessons, he developed a passion for jazz music which he shared with a neighborhood youth jazz group at the (then) Lawrence Neighborhood Center for three years. His love of music prompted him to found the "Can-O-Jam" benefit held at the Lawrence Road Presbyterian Church. This annual musical event raises …

Vicki Wengler Age 11 Fifth-grader, Lawrenceville Intermediate School Raised over $1,800 as a second-year as a "shavee" for St. Baldrick's Vicki raised over $1,800 for pediatric cancer research by shaving her head earlier this month during this year's St. Baldrick's Foundation event held in Lawrence Township.  It was her second year taking part in the event. She first became aware of mission of St. Baldrick's Foundation when her father, Lawrence Township resident John Wengler, shaved his head at the event in March 2009.  In 2010, Vicki was the first female participant in Lawrence. She inspired…

Tyler McCue      Age 9 Student, Lawrenceville Elementary School Participant in St. Baldrick’s event Darby McChesney nominated Tyler McCue as this week’s Whiz Kid and we here at Lawrenceville Patch agree he is more than worthy of the honor. Tyler has been very active in the St. Baldrick's event in Lawrence Township since 2009. His parents, Melissa and Mike McCue, organized the event locally and sponsor it each year through their business, Colonial Valley Chiropractic. Tyler was the first child in the township to shave his head in 2009 and has inspired other children and community members to …

Eagle Students Slackwood Elementary students (grades K-3) Collecting spare change and potato chip bags to become "Wish Granters" for One Simple Wish Slackwood Elementary School runs an after-school program for students in kindergarten through third grade called The Eagles. (The eagle is the school's official mascot.) The Eagles are all English language learners. Teachers Debbie Silver and Pam Adamczyk’s “goal is to help them with their homework and extra skill building and conversation to give them that extra help they may not get at home,” Silver said. In addition to teaching them about …

Adrian Glass, 18, and Shannon DeFillipo, 17 Adrian is a Senior, Lawrence High School Shannon is a Junior, Lawrence High School Student volunteers with Operation Smile Adrian and Shannon are this week’s Whiz Kids for willingly and unselfishly traveling across the world to help children born with cleft lips receive life-altering surgery through Operation Smile. The girls first learned about Operation Smile as students at Lawrence Middle School. Adrian said: “We remembered collecting toothbrushes, but not knowing what it was for. In high school we heard about others going all over the world and …

Olivia Davis 14 years old 8th grader, Lawrence Middle School First-place winner of NJAET's "Six Sounds in Search of an Author" Contest Olivia Davis is this week's Whiz Kid for winning first place honors in the Horror/SciFi/Fantasy Middle School category in the New Jersey Association for Educational Technology's "Six Sounds in Search of an Author" contest. Late last fall, Olivia and her classmates in a robotics and technology class at Lawrence Middle School participated in the contest by each creating a one-minute audio story. The students were allowed to craft their story however they wanted…

Promise Klink 9 years old 3rd grader at Saint Ann School Founder of Warm Promises, a blanket drive for babies in need Promise Klink has been named Lawrenceville Patch's Whiz Kid of the Week. A few months ago Promise asked her schoolmates, family members and friends for brand-new baby blankets. On Dec. 23 she delivered 70 blankets to babies in need in the maternity department of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton - the same hospital where she was born in 2001. She named the project Warm Promises. Promise came up with the idea for Warm Promises as a result of numerous trips she…

Nelle Evans 11-years-old 6th grader at Lawrence Intermediate School Souper Bowl of Caring Student Ambassador This week Lawrenceville Patch honors Nelle Evans for her work as a student ambassador for the third annual Souper Bowl of Caring. Nelle, 11, is a sixth grader and honor roll student at Lawrence Intermediate School. She became involved in the Souper Bowl of Caring in 2009 with her older sister, Mariefred, and has run the program locally by herself since 2010. Through this food drive, Nelle urged her fellow students to consider their neighbors who go to bed hungry and think about local …