Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Luke Traynor

Each week, Marple Newtown Patch will seek suggestions from readers for individual kids, youth groups, teens, and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. This week we shine the spotlight on Luke Traynor, a seventh-grade student at Paxon Hollow who recently helped put on a British rock musical at the school.

Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Luke Traynor

Whiz Kid's Age: 12

Whiz Kid's School:

Whiz Kid's Accomplishment: What started out as his dad Dan Traynor's dream to produce and write a rock and roll musical on stage turned out to be a big family affair. Luke was behind the scenes helping his dad with the event's logo, advertisement, the show's programs and musicians' biographies for Traynor's musical "Mersey: The British Rock Invasion Show."

Luke was a key player in getting the that will go on stage at Media Theatre starting Jan. 20, which is promised to be a "glitzy" premiere by Traynor. The group performed to two packed houses at the middle school to play tunes for the Brit-rock era. 

Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness: Though he admits he's not much of a singer or musician, Luke said he's grown up around rock and roll in the home from his father, who once played in an Irish rock and roll band, The Fitch.

"My dad's been performing music for years. Basically, my dad really wanted to do a show like this for years," said Luke. "He wanted to do a whole history of rock and roll show but his friends said it was way too much so he ended up just doing British rock and roll."

Luke, who has more of an interest in computers and technology, helped his dad for the past four or five months with creating the musical's British rock logo–particularly the graphic design portion of the logo.

"I enjoyed helping my dad out," shared Luke. "My favorite part was probably making the logo–he came up with a rough draft with it and I actually drew the whole thing out. And just the fact that I'm involved in something this huge."

Helping bring together the entire student body last week for a special assembly, Luke admits it was also the first time he's seen the entire show put together as well.

"I've never actually seen it put together like that–it was pretty great. I've only seen it at band practice," said Luke.

Although middle school students may not know who The Who were or how much of an impact the Beatles made to American rock and roll history, Luke said he hoped his classmates also took the musical as a learning lesson.

"Hopefully have other kids understand rock and roll, just because a lot of them don't appreciate how much work went into music that time," explained Luke.

If the musical goes further, Luke said he hoped to still be involved in some aspects with the musical and, hopefully, study computer science someday. But, for now, Luke is busily focusing on finishing the programs for the show.

Editor's note: 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. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as the Patch Whiz Kid.