Whiz Kid: Student Has Career Picked Out

Each week, Mehlville Patch will be highlighting a young person in the community who is making a positive difference in the lives of others. These kids are doing outstanding academic work, winning an award or exhibiting exemplary qualities. Know a great kid? Nominate them by e-mailing sarah.flagg@patch.com.

Name: Rylie Sandvoss

Age: 8

School: Beasley Elementary School

Achievement: Rylie wants to be a fashion designer and has already taken sewing lessons, creating some clever gifts.

Key to Awesomeness: Rylie is always busy. She has so many interests and hobbies that the days are seldom long enough for all of her plans. An aspiring fashion designer, Rylie and her mother, Amanda Stallard, took a Mom and Me sewing class at St. Louis Community College at the Meramec Campus.

Since then, Rylie has been designing clothes and sewing miniature stuffed animals that she calls Felties. She hand sews her creations to practice her stitches. Rylie often gives Felties as gifts to friends. 

A highly skilled reader, Rylie enjoys the Percy Jackson series, all of the Harry Potter books, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, The Kane Chronicles: The Throne of Fire series and all of the Lost Heroes tales. She was running out of books at the school library so her teacher, Ms. Grigg, brought in extra titles for her to read.

She now owns a Kindle, so she will be downloading books at the Cliff Cave County Library. Sometimes she even writes her own books. 

Rylie is a musician as well, playing piano and singing. She sang in the third grade choir this year and will be singing a country tune in the school talent show. 

As for after-school activities, Rylie is a member of both the school music club and the art club. This year, she is a Brownie at Beasley, but next year she will be a Girl Scout. 

Rylie’s summer plans are numerous and varied. A family trip to Dollywood is on her calendar and she is going on two Girl Scout camping trips, one a mother-daughter trip to Tapawingo and the other a Buddy Camp experience at Camp Tuckahoe. She will also be attending the Muny Lark Camp in Forest Park where she will get to see what goes on behind the scenes at the Muny. 

Although she is a busy young woman, Rylie stopped to compliment Ms. Grigg and her guidance counselor, Mrs. Powell, for their excellent work at Beasley. A math whiz, she especially enjoys Ms. Grigg’s game, “Around the World for Mathematics.”