Oakdale Patch Whiz Kid: Megan Hartmon

Oakdale Patch Whiz Kid: Megan Hartmon, 12^th Grade

School:

Accomplishment: Hartmon received the top STRIVE scholarship ($2,000) from the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale Rotary Club.

Key to Awesomeness: At the end of her junior year, Megan Hartmon’s GPA was lower than what she wanted, a symptom of not having her priorities straight, she said. But that all changed when she joined the STRIVE program, which provides high school seniors with a mentor from the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale Rotary Club and a teacher at their school. Attending monthly meetings with her mentors on topics like college savings and career preparation helped her focus on her future, she said.

“Going to the meetings every month—it helps keep up the mindset that I’m going to be leaving high school and I need to figure things out before I leap into things,” she said.

Hartmon got her grades up—high enough to qualify for the Rotary Club’s top STRIVE scholarship—and made plans to study at Century College for two years and then transfer to a four-year school to get her nursing degree.

Hartmon plans to become a registered nurse, and then pick a specialty such as anesthesiology.

Her mentors were Rotarian Randy Greenlee and Tartan biology instructor Anne Schlukebier.

Each week, Oakdale 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 Oakdale Patch Whiz Kid.  Submit your nomination in our comment box below or e-mail the information to patty.busse@patch.com. Be sure to include all of the following information: nominator's name, nominator's e-mail, Whiz Kid's name, Whiz Kid's age, Whiz Kid's school, Whiz Kid's accomplishment, Whiz Kid's key to awesomeness (what made him/her successful?)

If your nominee is selected, we'll contact you and assign a photographer to take a photo. For questions, e-mail patty.busse@patch.com.