Patch Flashback: Top Whiz Kids of 2011

Every week since our June launch, Bloomfield Patch has featured local students doing amazing things in their schools and in their communities. Though all are to be commended for their work to improve their lives and the lives of others through their interests and achievements, some stood out and truly earned the "Whiz Kid" moniker. The following students were selected by a combination of most reader interest and the uniqueness of their achievements.

Andover High School senior Paul Stewart and his brother, Mark, a sophomore, were nominated together for their recorded rap songs and two videos that gained YouTube.com fame. They produced all of the projects in their parents' basement, also known as the FoursquareProduction Studio. The elder Stewart, 17, continued a notable first semester by being in November. Earlier that month, he also went face-to-face with multiple GOP presidential hopefuls amid the throng of national media for WBFH 88.1 FM at the debate at Oakland University.

Siddhartha Jena, a senior at the International Academy, hasn't chosen a college yet, but he already has a $25,000 standing scholarship for his outstanding achievements in science. The Bloomfield Hills resident was recognized in August as one of only 18 students across the country to receive the scholarship from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a nonprofit education center in Nevada. Jena, a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist, started his own research study in 2009 that shows a possible way to offset health risks from elevated blood cholesterol.

Cranbrook senior Daniel Ackerman was one of only three Michigan students — and just 64 from across the country — to work as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives for a semester in 2011. Faced with budget cuts, Congress voted earlier this spring to end the historic program after more than 200 years.

Nominated by U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Livonia), the Bloomfield Hills resident said his primary job was running messages and documents to other congressional staffers and delivering official copies of congressional statements to the Library of Congress.

Recent graduate Armani Hawes spent the summer building on the leadership skills and record of community service she showed throughout her high school career. She was among just 230 students across the country to participate in the Bank of America Student Leadership Summit in Washington, DC, and as a result, she earned a paid eight-week summer internship with Focus: HOPE in Detroit. During the course of her high school career, Hawes coordinated annual garage sales that raised nearly $20,000 for the Royal Oak-based Judson Center, which offers family counseling, foster care, autism awareness and other services to underprivileged families.

Elizabeth Xiong has played piano since age 4 and really set herself apart this year by placing second in the Music Teachers National Association’s (MTNA) Junior Piano Competition last spring. The distinction essentially makes her the No. 2 pianist in her class in America. The Rochester teen is a freshman at Cranbrook, where she is a Slotkin Music Scholar, and regularly performs with the Cranbrook Concert Choir and the Warren Symphony.

Other Whiz Kids throughout 2011

Tess Garcia:

Alexander Borrello:

Kamaria Washington:

Miles Eichenhorn:

Jolie Sherman:

Ryan and Jordan Waldman: 

Hannah Moreno:

Abigail Elder: 

Andrew Thomas:

West Hills Middle School:

Michael Franklin: 

Francesco Ruffino:

Sarah Blume:

Rachel Vettese:

Ben White Levin:

Michael Banerian:

Mac Lancaster:

Michael Deneroff:

Do you know our next Whiz Kid?

Bloomfield Patch welcomes suggestions for students, youth groups and even sports teams who wow us with their accomplishments. We want to hear about amazing children and teens and select one each week as Whiz Kid. Submit your nomination in our comment box below or email the information to editor Art.Aisner@patch.com. Please include all these details:

• Nominator's name
• Whiz Kid's name and age
• Whiz Kid's school
• Whiz Kid's accomplishment
• What makes him or her successful