Whiz Kid: Jacob Spiegel Nominated By: Wentzville R-IV School District Accomplishment: Spiegel, a junior at Wentzville Holt High School, has been selected as first chair trumpet in the Missouri All-State Band. Key To Awesomeness: In December, over 1,000 students from across Missouri met at Hickman High School in Columbia to audition for the honor of participating in the top honor band in the state. Only 108 students are accepted into this elite ensemble. "I’ve been playing trumpet since the sixth grade, both my Dad and my uncle are trumpet players, so it sort of runs in the family," said …

Whiz Kid: Alyx Seats Nominated By: Wentzville R-IV School District Accomplishment: Timberland soccer player Alyx Seats has committed to play for the Culver-Stockton College Wildcats in Canton, MO. Key To Awesomeness: As an underclassman in high school, Seats tore the ACL in both of her knees. After experiencing a potentially career ending injury, she is happy just to have the opportunity to play college soccer. While at CSC she plans on pursuing a degree in teaching or physical therapy.

Whiz Kid: Wentzville Holt High School band Accomplishment: The Holt marching band had another great year, performing recently at the 2011 Mizzou Champion of Champions event. Key To Awesomeness: Being great students on the field and off!

Whiz Kid: Lily Merz, 14 Nominated By: Darlene Smith Accomplishment: As an eighth grader at Frontier Middle School she exercises her leadership skills as the Vice President of the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS). As a member of NJHS, Merz must exhibit the five pillars of the society: Scholarship, Service, Leadership, Character and Citizenship, in which she strives to exceed the standards in each of these areas.  Key To Awesomeness: Merz also exhibits pride in both her education and school as she is an elite member of the middle school’s student council. She was chosen by Duke University, …

Whiz Kid: Justin Blechle Nominated By: Coker College Accomplishment: The Wentzville resident and St. Dominic High School outfielder has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball for NCAA Division II Coker College for the 2012-13 season. Key To Awesomeness: Blechle was a 2011 First Team All-Conference selection with a .415 batting average, five doubles, three triples, a homerun and 15 stolen bases. During the summer of 2011 Blechle represented the Midwest Region as one of 18 players selected to play for Team USA Baseball's National Team Identification Series in Cary, N.C.

Whiz Kid: Dylan Skinner Nominated By: Wentzville R-IV School District Accomplishment: Holt High School Indians first baseman has committed to play college baseball for the Lindenwood University-Belleville Lynx in Belleville, IL. Key To Awesomeness: Last year as a junior, Skinner hit .330 with 22 RBIs.

Whiz Kid: Amber Boehme Nominated By: Wentzville R-IV School District Accomplishment: Holt High School Indians pitcher Amber Boehme has committed to play college softball for the Columbia College Cougars in Columbia, MO. Key To Awesomeness: As a freshman in 2008, Boehme helped lead the Lady Indians to a District Championship, and she was selected 1st Team All-Conference and 1st Team All-District in both 2010 and 2011. This year on the mound she accounted for 20 of the teams 21 wins, and finished 20-5 with a 2.10 ERA and 166 strikeouts.

Timberland High School pitcher and infielder Sarah Williams has committed to play college softball for the Missouri Southern State University Lions in Joplin, Missouri. With her mother Betty and her father Tom by her side, the right hander signed her National Letter of Intent at Timberland High School. “I felt really comfortable there, it felt like home, and the softball program is pretty good too,” said Williams. This year she was selected 1st Team All-Conference and 1st Team All-District. On the mound she led the team in wins with a 12-8 record and a 1.61 ERA with 138 strikeouts, and at the…

Whiz Kid: Mary Disney Nominated By: Wentzville R-IV School District Accomplishment: Disney, a senior at Holt High School, has been elected the 2011-2012 DECA Vice President of District 6, one of the largest districts in the state of Missouri. She joined 15 other newly-elected DECA officers from across the state at the Missouri DECA Fall Leadership Conference held Oct. 16-17 in Lake Ozark, MO. Key To Awesomeness: The DECA officers were determined on the basis of their score on a written test, screening and nominating committee interviews, and the number of ballots cast by the voting delegates …

Whiz Kids: Wentzville Middle School students Nominated By: Wentzville R-IV Schools Accomplishment: Collected over 6,000 books for students in the Joplin School District. Key To Awesomeness: Members of the WMS National Junior Honor Society began collecting for the effort in June and loaded the books on a truck headed for Joplin on Oct. 11. Jacob Hood, an eighth grader at WMS, collected 3,000 books alone for the drive. He called on neighbors, family and friends to collect the new and used books. “Because of the disaster left by the tornado, we knew that (Joplin students) had lost so much and …

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, Wentzville 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 our comment box below or e-mail the information to Maggie.Rotermund@patch.com. Be sure to include all of the following information: Nominator's name Nominator's email …

Whiz Kid: Brooke Benefield Age: 11 Nominated By: Tracy Benefield    Accomplishment: Published a book in 2010 that is currently in the library at Heritage Elementary School. Key to Awesomeness: Brooke has always been creative at drawing and writing stories. "She is a fantastic artist and never goes a day without drawing something," said Tracy Benefield. "She makes her own animated YouTube videos, which she draws, edits and produces herself." Brooke attends Lakeview Elementary School.

Whiz Kid: Isabella Horn Nominated By: Carol Horn    Accomplishment: Holding a food drive for her 10th birthday Saturday Key to Awesomeness: "Isabella is turning 10 and for her birthday she is having a food drive for Operation Food Search," said Carol Horn. "She is requesting her friends to make a donation rather than bring birthday gifts."  Isabella's birthday celebration food drive will be held at 4 p.m. this Saturday at Rotary Park in Wentzville. Donation barrels will be set up at the lower pavilion. People are welcome to drive by if they would like to donate. "Isabella is so excited to …

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, Wentzville 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 our comment box below or e-mail the information to Maggie.Rotermund@patch.com. Be sure to include all of the following information: Nominator's name Nominator's email …

Whiz Kids: Holt and Timberland marching bands Accomplishment: Taking second place in separate competitions over this past weekend. Key To Awesomeness: Their incredible marching musical skill! The Holt Marching Indians took second place in their class at the 14th Annual Farmington Marching Invitational in Farmington, MO. The Timberland Marching Wolves took second place in their class at the 4th Annual Tiger Ambush Classic Marching Band Competition hosted in Edwardsville, IL. In addition, the Marching Wolves also received the Outstanding Drum Major Award, which was presented senior Ben Todd and…

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, Wentzville 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 our comment box below or e-mail the information to Maggie.Rotermund@patch.com. Be sure to include all of the following information: Nominator's name Nominator's email …

Whiz Kid: Lucas Cozart Nominated By: Mary Ellen Cozart Accomplishment: Cozart, 14, reached the rank of Eagle Scout on July 12. Lucas is  a freshman at Fort Zumwalt North High School and he is a member of Boy Scout Troop 972 in Lake Saint Louis. Key to Awesomeness: Cozart's Eagle project was beautifying the flag pole area at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, where his family are members. He built benches and landscaped the area.

Whiz Kid: Maddie Kelly Nominated By: East Central College Accomplishment: Kelly, a graduate of Timberland High School, is a sophomore member of the 2011 East Central College Falcons volleyball program. Kelly is one of the captains for the Falcons this season along with fellow sophomore Charis Stewart.  Key to Awesomeness: As a freshman, Kelly established a new ECC program record for digs in a season with 870. She also served 40 aces. Kelly enters 2011 just 87 digs shy of breaking the program record for career digs.  East Central College, located in Union, was ranked 11th in the National …

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, Wentzville 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 our comment box below or e-mail the information to Maggie.Rotermund@patch.com. Be sure to include all of the following information: Nominator's name Nominator's email …

Whiz Kid: Bright Flight scholars Nominated By: Wentzville R-IV Schools Accomplishment: The Wentzville School District has 42 seniors that have qualified for Missouri “Bright Flight” scholarships this year, with 21 recipients from Holt High School and 21 from Timberland High School.  Key To Awesomeness: The number of WSD students recognized as Bright Flight Scholars has more than doubled in just the past two years.  Bright Flight is the Missouri Department of Higher Education (MDHE) academic scholarship program that awards scholarships to the top 5 percent of the state’s high school seniors as…