Whiz Kids: 6 Orchard Hill Second-Graders Win Reading Contest

This weeks Whiz Kids come to us from Sue Oryszak, second-grade teacher at .

• Cecilia Aguirre
• Hannah Blakesmore
• Clare Chufar
• Ben De Guzman
• Madeline Gregory
• Macy McCauley

All of them will be entering third grade this fall at Orchard Hill Elementary.

Last year, the students in Oryszak's second-grade class were challenged to "read their way across the USA." 

Each student had to read a book, and complete a response for each book.

Each book response was discussed with an adult volunteer, and if completed satisfactorily, the student would earn a trip to one of the states in the USA. They each had their own map and would color the state they wanted to visit and then would learn about that state. Their goal was to visit all 50 states.

They set personal goals and kept track of their own progress with the map and also their own personal sticker chart.

Out of our entire class, these six children took the challenge and completed the task, Oryszak said.

The book responses varied in type and difficulty.

Our six Whiz Kids chose the books most beneficial to their needs.

"Not just choosing the easy ones to get done," Oryszak said. "Some of them chose to take their book log folder home at times to keep on target. I also witnessed them teaming up to help other students catch up when they were drifting behind."

"I admire these students for their ability to set a goal, and stick to it to completion," Oryszak said.

"They had to learn how to manage their time and use it wisely to reach their goal by the end of the school year. Sometimes they had to make difficult choices, as they often would decide to use rainy day recess time to work on their book logs instead of playing."

"I admire these students for their teamwork, and the responsibility demonstrated as they helped each other through the process, and encouraged each other."

As the winning prize, the students got to have lunch on Oryszak's pontoon boat in Willowdale Lake in Jackson Township.

They ate pizza and fruit and toured the lakes, then docked at a little sand beach by the clubhouse that had a slide, small playground and a floating dock that the kids were able to swim out to. 

All kids have something unique about them. What's unique about your kid? Anybody can nominate a Whiz Kid and even a group of kids as well. Email Lisa Lynch-Frank at lynch821@gmail.com with the name, key to awesomeness, a quote on why you're proud and a photo. It's very simple and takes 10 minutes of your time but is a great way to tell our youth how awesome they are!