Whiz Kid: Bloomfield Hills Teen Mixes Baseball and Physics for Top Science Fair Prize

Each week, Bloomfield Patch features students doing amazing things in their schools and in their communities. This week's Whiz Kid is a physics buff who applied that science in a baseball-related research project.

Michael Deneroff

• Age: 14
• School:
• Achievement: Deneroff was the first-place winner at the Science and Engineering Fair of Metropolitan Detroit with a project combining sports and physics. The young researcher from Bloomfield Hills examined how baseballs curve differently if pitchers have something on their hands, such as saliva, pine tar or Vaseline. He received the physics category top award during the four-day spring event at Cobo Center in Detroit, which drew nearly 1,000 students from 73 middle schools in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties. Michael now is among semi-finalists with a chance to enter a national middle school science competition.
• Key to Awesomeness: An interest sparked by science teacher Wendy Mayer has become "a passion for physics," says Randall Dunn, head of school. "We are extremely proud of his efforts and are thrilled he has received recognition for his hard work and dedication."
  Also this past spring, Michael was on a Roeper team participating in a Model UN Conference at Hope College in Holland, MI. He represented Brazil during a mock  Security Council discuission of the Kashmir region dispute between India  and Pakistan.

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 these 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