Whiz Kid of the Week: Lizzy Zarate

Each week, Eagan Patch will seek suggestions from readers for individual kids, youth groups, teens, and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as the Patch Whiz Kid.  Submit your nomination in our comment box below or e-mail the information to Jennifer.Pfeffer@patch.com.

Here's our story on this week's Whiz Kid:

Lizzy Zarate, Eagan

Fourth grader at

Whiz Kid’s Accomplishment: After reading Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, Zarate was inspired to begin a class newspaper of her own. She discussed her thoughts with her teacher Bonnie Schmitz, and was granted permission to go ahead with her idea. Zarate has been named the editor of the class' monthly newsletter, The 4-S Gazette.

The newsletter was founded this past February, and editors are currently working on the April issue, according to Zarate. Classmates are able to submit ideas for articles, and she added, that everyone gets really excited when they see their byline in the newsletter.

Zarate said the newsletter includes an advice column, person of the month, jokes and articles about "what's going on in the world."

Her duties include editing all the articles for spelling, grammar and punctuation, changing headlines to stories as she sees fit, laying out the newsletter, training others on lay-out, and choosing what will and won't make it into the newsletter.

"I love seeing it when it's finally printed. It looks so official," Zarate said.

Two other editors work side-by-side with Zarate, however, those students change each month so others can gain the experience.

Keys to Awesomeness: Zarate loves that Schmitz allowed her class to take on this new monthly project. Zarate said she really likes to write and has even written a few articles for the newsletter, in addition to her editor role.

"We're so proud of her," Schmitz said.

Zarate said, "If it's a big success, I'll as my teacher next year [to do a newsletter]."

I would like to be an editor for a middle school's newspaper or yearbook when I am done with elementary school, she said. 

She is also fond of writing poems. According to Zarate, "We got a lot of poem submissions for the last newsletter. I think the April [issue] may be all poems."

When writing poems, Zarate said, "I just think about something and how I could draw inspiration from that."

She added that there are times when she has spent her recess at the computer lab working on the newsletter, and she has even taken a little work home.

She said the biggest issue she deals with as an editor is spelling mistakes; sometimes it's hard to decipher what words her classmates have written.

Advice to other students? "When you learn you want to do something, stick with it," she said. "[Also], if a class really likes to write, they should try [making a newsletter] and see if it works."