Whiz Kid: Justin Bonnell

Name: Justin Bonnell

Age: 17

School: Recently graduated from .

Accomplishment: During the city council meeting Monday night, Gig Harbor officials recognized Justin for his community efforts in putting together the "Map Your Neighborhood" project for the city.

Building and Fire Safety Director Dick Bower presented a certificate of appreciation to the teen.

"Justin is an awesome kid," he said. "In doing this project, he essentially created the emergency preparedness program for the city." 

Map Your Neighborhood is a grant-funded project that's organized by the Washington Military Department. Its purpose is to educate and prepare smaller communities in case of emergency situations.

"We give them resources and teach them how to communicate with their neighbors during disasters," said Justin. 

The teen contacted the city last fall for his senior project and teamed up with Bower and Peninsula Emergency Preparedness Committee (PEP-C). He presented the program to at least one neighborhood, but he said his biggest challenge was getting the neighborhoods involved.

"It was hard to find people to participate in the program," he said. 

Key to Awesomeness: Justin said the goal of his project was to make sure the Map Your Neighborhood program was easy to use and involved plenty of community engagement. 

Justin said he became interested in local government when he attended Boys State last summer. As an eighth grader, he also served as a page for Sen. Derek Kilmer.

The recent grad from Gig Harbor High School received a $750 scholarship from Kilmer through the Gig Harbor Tides Scholarship Foundation. He said he will attend University of Washington to study engineering this fall. 

If your neighborhood is interested in participating, please contact Dick Bower at 253-851-6137 or bowerd@cityofgigharbor.net.

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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 email the information to Akiko Oda. Find out