Whiz Kid: Berkshire Student to Attend Prestigious Ballet Academy

Each week, Patch spotlights young people in the Birmingham community who are successful, talented and just plain awesome. Today we introduce the latest Whiz Kid:

Anna Hagner

• Age: 12
• School:
• Achievement: Hagner has received a scholarship to attend the Gelsey Kirkland Pre-Professional Ballet Program in New York in July. Hagner studies ballet at the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet in Novi.
• Key to awesomeness: Gelsey Kirkland, who is best known for her partnership with Mikhail Baryshnikov, started her summer program a year ago to bring world-renowned international teachers to New York City. Anna is one of only a handful of middle school students accepted into the program.

Do you know a special kid in the community who deserves applause because he volunteers after school? Or, maybe your daughter's science club challenges how we think about the environment? Or, perhaps your son's team won its first game in three years. Everyone deserves a little attention, and we want to tell these stories.

Email nominations to Editor Laura Houser at laura.houser@patch.com, provide the information given above and include a photo with names and ages. Then, come back every Tuesday for our Whiz Kid spotlight; you never know who's up next.