Lawrence Kids, Spring 2014

This Kid in LAWRENCE We do all we can to support the kids of Lawrence. This town is full of great youngsters; kids that go out of their way to help others.

We had been thinking of a way to identify a Lawrence kid that selflessly helps others when we received this great message from Kendra Metz. Kendra is a local teacher that was compelled to talk about a Lawrence kid named Blake Wagner.

“Dear Lawrence Kids, I want to share what I learned about Blake Wagner, a student of mine. I teach 7th grade at Southwest Middle School and this young man is in my afternoon class. He comes in every day with a smile and every day, without fail, he THANKS me on his way out the door.

But that’s not all.

Yesterday a colleague told me that each day it has snowed, she has woken up dreading cleaning their driveway. To her surprise, when she looks outside the driveway is miraculously clean. She couldn’t figure it. Then, after another night of snow, Blake approached her in class and apologized for not being able to get to her house that time. Apparently he had been getting himself out of bed each morning around 4am to shovel (no snow blower) neighbors’ drives. He never bothered to mention it to the neighbors, let alone ask for thanks or compensation.

I sent his mother a note telling her how polite and kind Blake is. Today she responded to let me know that he is like that at home, too. His younger brother is blind, and Blake takes great care of him, yet treats him just like any other brother.

Blake is a great example of so many things we try to teach young people today - leadership, responsibility, empathy (not sympathy) and care for others. ~Kendra Metz“ Do you know a great kid in Lawrence helping others?

Let us know: info@lawrencekidsmagazine.com