Community Corner
Whiz Kid of the Week: Mikwaevonn Mills
She's an honor roll student and a world traveler with big dreams.
Name: Mikwaevonn Mills
Age: 17
School: ACORN Community High School
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Accomplishments: Since beginning at ACORN in 2007, Mills has consistently made the honor roll and scored at the top of her class. But that’s not all that makes her special – she is a bonafide world traveler.
When she was in the 9th grade, she traveled to Antigua, in the Caribbean, where she has family. She said that while the beaches were beautiful (of course), she enjoyed seeing relatives and learning more about her roots.
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In the 10th grade, she was involved in the Explorica program, which runs educational trips abroad for students. Mills traveled to Italy with another student and their teacher, Miss Julie Lovely.
They traveled from Florence to Nice, and Mills said her favorite part of the trip was getting to ride on a gondola.
“My favorite city was Venice, it’s the water city and it was really gorgeous,” she said.
In the 11th grade, Mills joined the People to People ambassador program, for students who demonstrate leadership and do positive work in their communities. The program invited her out to visit Australia and New Zealand in July 2010.
Mills got the opportunity to try new things, like abseiling, a type of rock climbing. Her group climbed up to Waikiki Falls, which Mills calls “really really scary – the people (below) look like ants!”
From there, they traveled to a rainforest habitat in Port Douglas, where she saw kangaroos in person and held a koala (“It feels like a hairy baby,” she said).
During their last week in Australia, they went snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef: “The best part was when I put my face in water, I saw a big clam and it opened up and it kind of reminded me of The Little Mermaid, with the little pearl in there.”
Key to Awesomeness: Mills doesn’t let anything get in her way. When she was invited to Australia and New Zealand, the expenses would have been a lot, so she worked hard and received grants from her church and the Diocese of Long Island.
Mills also has a thirst for adventure: “I really love traveling and seeing new places,” she said.
Next fall she hopes to attend Temple University in Philadelphia (“It’s my number one choice,” she said) to enroll in a five-year program that would earn her both a BA and MA in education.
“I want to go into teaching,” she said.
