Community Corner
Whiz Kid of the Week: Malichi Petersen
Malichi knows everyone on his block by name, and they know him too.
Name: Malichi Petersen
Age: 7
Grade: 2nd
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School: Leadership Preparatory Charter School
Achievements:
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Just 7, Malichi is a big man on the block. Like the children of Sesame Street who were friends with Mr. Hooper, he is on a first name basis with many Franklin Avenue merchants. His grandmother Joyce calls him "Mr. Personality."
In an effort to explain himself to me, the Park Place 2nd grader gushes with enthusiasms, telling me the five things that mean the most to him.
1.) Video Games: His favorite is Mario Brothers. He's shown real commitment to it. After two long years of mastering the first seven levels, with little adult help, he has finally reached the eighth and final world where he has to find two castles.
2.) Instruments: Malichi's not as commited to a single instrument as he is to Mario Brothers, but he can play the bongo drums. He also taught himself a song from the movie, Monsters vs. Aliens, which he plays on a keyboard. He seems most serious about guitar. He has taken lessons and plans on taking more.
3.) School: Malichi made the honor roll this year and his lowest grade is an 81. He's been a good student ever since kindergarten and is especially adept in math which is his favorite subject. "I knew my 11s before everyone else. 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, 66, 77, 88, 99, see? I figure it out in a snap. Ask me, I'll figure it out easily." So I ask him what is 27 divided by 3 and without hesitation he confidently answers "nine." He also likes reading, grammar, and spelling but doesn't like science and writing so much. He intends to go to Princeton.
4.) Basketball: Malichi practices every Tuesday after school and will be going to basketball camp this summer where he'll play from 9 to 5 every day. His favorite team is the Lakers; favorite player is Kobe Bryant; and he has at least four basketball jerseys.
5.) Caring: Malichi recently attended a talk by a Tibetan Buddhist monk on compassion. Though he was the the only child there, nothing was lost on him. "I saw the Lama and he was very caring to me and he talked about love, compassion, hope, and I don't know the other one. The Lama is all about love and compassion." He's especially fond of his grandmother and his 14-year-old cousin Deonte who often cares for and plays with him.
Key to Awesomeness:
First grade teacher Nikki Bowen says, "What makes Malichi awesome is his ability to learn quickly and his never ending curiousity. Malichi always was at the top of the class. If we learned something, he would take it home, apply it to his life and go above and beyond. In one unit Malichi went home, researched, and wrote a biography of Bessie Coleman that still lives in my classroom library today.
"As a 2nd grader I have kept in touch. Sometimes Malichi and my fiancé have play dates and Dane is just amazed by the questions Malichi asks about music, basketball and anything else. All of these things make Malichi truly an awesome kid."
Know a Prospect Heights Whiz Kid? E-mail adam.rabiner@yahoo.com.