Patch Whiz Kid of the Week Ben Rowles

Age: 11

School: Beachwood Middle School

Accomplishment: Ben has been chosen as one of three sixth-grade finalists (out of entrants from a dozen schools) in the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage’s Stop the Hate: Youth Speak Out essay contest and is eligible for up to $300 in prize money.

Key to Awesomeness: “When I wrote it, I didn’t think it was that good at all,” Ben said. “I just thought, well, I tried my hardest.”

Ben is in Power of the Pencil, a pre-cursor to a writing competition team, at his school, and he said he spends a lot of time reading and studying math and science – when he’s not required to. “Sometimes when we start learning about a topic in school I already know about it,” he said.