Whiz Kid: Avery Hasenauer Delivers Stirring Speech at Commencement

Every week, Patch spotlights young people in the West Bloomfield community who are successful, talented and just plain awesome. We're pleased to introduce this week's Whiz Kid:

Avery Hasenauer

• Age: 17
• School:
• Achievement: Avery Hasenauer gave a stirring speech at the commencement ceremony for WBHS graduating seniors June 5. "(Avery) gave the audience a heightened sense of appreciation for what their collective futures may hold in store for them. Avery’s speech emphasizing loving one another was so outstanding and powerful that I know it will resonate for many years with those who attended," wrote Superintendent JoAnn Andrees in her blog, Talk Sup't.
  
  Avery also placed sixth in the individual state wrestling finals in March after beating Nick Tomski of Farmington High, the two-time reigning Oakland Activities Association White Division 145-pound class champion.
• Key to awesomeness: Avery is smart. His wrestling coach Courtland Bartlett describes him as "a real technician" on the mat, but it goes deeper than that. Avery has participated in theater programs since he was young in addition to wrestling and other sports. He maintains a 3.8 grade point average and is going to Cornell University to further his education.

Do you know a special young person in the community who deserves a round of applause because he volunteers after school? Or maybe your daughter's science club is trying to challenge the way we think about the energy crisis? Perhaps your son's lacrosse team won its first game in three years? Everyone deserves a little attention and we want to tell these stories.

So e-mail your Whiz Kid nominations to Editor Tim Rath at Tim.Rath@Patch.com. Please include the Whiz Kid's name, age, school, achievement and key to awesomeness and a photo. Then come back every Wednesday for our Whiz Kid spotlight; you never know who will be up next.