Whiz Kid: Andre Clemente

Know a great kid who made Eagle Scout or did your local soccer team take the championship? They may be our next Patch Whiz Kid honoree. 

Each week, Burlingame Patch will seek suggestions from readers for individual  kids, youth groups, teens and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as the Patch Whiz Kid. Submit your nomination in the comments or e-mail the information to miriam@patch.com.

Be sure to include all of the following information: 

• Nominator's Name
• Nominator's E-Mail
• Whiz Kid's Name
• Whiz Kid's Age
• Whiz Kid's School
• Whiz Kid's Accomplishment
• Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness (what made him/her successful?)

Burlingame Patch's Whiz Kid of the Week:

Andre Clemente

Age:18

School: Burlingame High School

Whiz Kid's Accomplishment: Andre received a $10,000 scholarship towards Universal Technical Institute (UTI), an automotive trade school after coming in second place in a video contest.

Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness: Andre entered a nationwide scholarship competition for UTI, which required making a video explaining why he wanted to be a technician. He was chosen as one of six finalists and his video was posted on UTI's website with the other finalists' videos and opened to public voting.

Andre contacted business owners, local politicians and media outlets to get the word out about the video competition. Mayor Terry Nagel included Andre in the weekly Burlingame e-newsletter, while BHS economics teacher Kevin Nelson got the San Mateo Daily Journal and Burlingame Patch to publish Andre's story. Andre works for Delmar Boscacci at Highway One Classic Automobiles, and Boscacci forwarded Andre's story to more than 3,000 of his contacts. Andre ended the competition with 2,225 votes, earning him second place and a $10,000 scholarship.

Congratulations, Andre!