Eighth-Grader Represents Woburn at Project 351

Every Tuesday after school from September to June since she was in sixth grade, eighth grader Yan Ni Kelly travels from the to the , which she attended before moving to the Joyce. For about two and a half hours, the straight “A” student helps out at an arts program that she herself used to attend.

Based on her grades, volunteer work and good behavior, Yan Ni traveled farther Saturday—to Boston—to add her hands to 350 other middle school students from around the commonwealth to perform volunteer service projects in conjunction with the inauguration of Gov. Deval Patrick. The Project 351 youth service day was set up to “demonstrate the commonwealth’s commitment to the next generation of learners and leaders,” according to the governor’s office.

Yan Ni is “an outstanding all-around student,” according to her school principal, Thomas Qualey. Not only does she earn top grades, he said Tuesday, but she also is helpful to others.

She spent part of Saturday packing bags with construction paper, crayons, colored pencils and books for students who will be starting kindergarten, as part of the Countdown to Kindergarten volunteer team. In all, the students who worked on that effort packed more than 4,000 bags, according toYan Ni.

“We talked and laughed and had fun” while they worked, she said.

The middle schoolers also had time for a State House tour, Yan Ni, the daughter of Maureen Kelly, said, as well as an assembly with Gov. Patrick and Lt. Gov. Tim Murray. She saw the New England Patriots’ Kevin Faulk and one of his teammates, she said, and a member of the New England Revolution soccer team. The Revolution player has a son in kindergarten, she noted. Yan Ni described herself as a Patriots fan, but she said she doesn’t know the players by name.

From her volunteering Saturday, Yan Ni said she learned a lesson. A lot of people who are focused on a task can make a lot of progress, she said. Everybody can help do community service, she said, and every amount helps.

Yan Ni said she did not volunteer to take part in Project 351, so named for the number of communities in the commonwealth. Several outstanding students at the Joyce and Kennedy Middle Schools all met the criteria, according to Qualey. All their names were put into a hat, he said. Yan Ni’s was picked to represent Woburn.

Now it’s back to regular routine for Yan Ni:  school, volunteering at the Reeves arts program with some of her friends and piano practice—an hour “almost every day.” In season, she also plays soccer. As a member of the National Honor Society, Yan Ni must do some community service, Qualey noted. She said she will surpass the requirement and continue to volunteer with the local arts program until it wraps up when the school year ends in the spring.

Officials at Project 351 said they would set up some sort of communication system to allow this year’s volunteers to stay in touch, according to Yan Ni. She said she has already exchanged information with one girl she met at the event.

Even though she’s only in eighth grade, Yan Ni has an idea about a possible career. She is very interested in science, she said, and thinks about becoming a geologist.