Whiz Kids: A Field Trip to Feed My Starving Children

Whiz Kids' Names: Ms. Barb Pinnow's class includes Samantha Bollinger, Taylor Christian, Ryan Conner, Maggie Dervis, Cameron English, Erena Greaves, Alex Houtz, Mary Huinker, Brooke Kala, Noah Klossing, Caleb Kok, Julia Lietz, Ethan Matichak, Owen McGavern, Anabella Nuzzo, Landon Purdue, Taylor Rice, Ava Rittgers, Kalene Schalhamer, Mia Schwarz, Logan Spiess, Katelyn Stritzel, David Swenson, Grace Watson, and Madisyn Willman.

Whiz Kids' School:

Whiz Kids' Accomplishment: The class took a field trip to Feed My Starving Children in Aurora, where they packed veggies, soy protein and rice into 60 boxes containing 12,960 meals.

"We got to see how many families we got to feed," explained Landon Purdue.

They packed enough to feed 36 families for a whole year.

"In the beginning, they showed us a video of all the starving people we were going to help," remembered Logan Spiess.

The packing process required them to wear hairnets and gloves, use funnels and weigh the food. Owen McGavern said he liked to do the soy protein and the rice the best, while Mary Huinker said she enjoyed dumping the veggies into the bags.

Whiz Kid’s Key to Awesomeness: Although the field trip was an organized class project, the young students showed an eagerness to learn and try new things. Third grade is the youngest the organization recomends for group volunteering experiences, although children as young as 5 can volunteer if they have one adult per child accompanying, according to the organization's website.

Some of the food had been prepared, so they got to taste what the families in Haiti would be experiencing.

Erena Greaves wasn't going to ask her parents to cook something similar any time soon.

"I think it was gross for us," Greaves said, "but good for the people we were helping because they have a different culture."

Thanks to a partnership with each Whiz Kid receives a free 12-in thin-crust cheese pizza redeemable at the Yorkville or Sandwich locations.

A Whiz Kid is innovative, caring, creative, smart, responsible, savvy, interested, determined, strong, trustworthy, respectful or faithful. (Or any other adjective you can think of to describe a cool kid doing something positive). To nominate a Whiz Kid, email Yorkville Patch editor Jillian Duchnowski at jillian.duchnowski@patch.com.