GARLAND — In November, Americans will select a new President of the United States. Right now, no one knows if it’s going to be Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump. But Frederick Hayes wants to be there when the winner takes the oath of office.
Frederick, a 12-year-old student from Union Middle School, was recently picked to participate in the 2017 Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit scheduled for Jan. 18 to Jan. 22, 2017. The 5-day event gives participants the opportunity to collaborate with other students to discuss and find local, national and global solutions to challenges youths and the next president will have to deal with.
“It’s exciting,” Frederick said about the upcoming event and being nominated by school leaders for academic achievements and goodwill.
The seventh-grader is currently an alumnus of the Junior National Young Leaders Conference, which is associated with the upcoming program. It was his first time away from the small town of Garland, but he settled in and made friends.
The selection to the leadership summit is just one of several accomplishments for Frederick. Recently, Frederick was inducted into his school’s Beta Club, an organization for fourth through 12-grade students. Its purpose is “to promote the ideals of academic achievement, character, leadership and service among elementary and secondary school students.”
“It’s a very fun extracurricular activity and you get to hang out with your friends,” Frederick said.
After finishing middle school, Frederick has goals to attend Sampson Early College High School to receive a jump on his studies in higher education to do something involving law or business in adulthood.
“We’ll see where that takes me,” Frederick said about enrolling in the local school.
Barbara Peterson, his mother, is proud of the recent accomplishment. It was an overwhelming and mind-blowing experience for the family.
“I’m excited, I want him to soar,” she added about her son who is taking advanced classes. “I tell him this on a day-to-day basis. Go for the stars, go beyond if you can get there.”
He was excited about the news, especially after learning that Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai was going to be a keynote speaker. The teen human rights activist from Pakistan is the co-founder of the Malala Fund, an organization dedicated to promoting education for girls throughout the world. She was shot by the Taliban while traveling home from school on the bus with friends.
Frederick is looking forward to the trip, but it’s not free. Currently, he’s raising funds through GoFundMe, with a goal to collect $4,500 for travel, room, board, a chaperone and other daily expenses. All fees are due August 2016. The young student is required to make monthly payments of $750 per month from March 2016 through August 2016.
“The elders in my life always told me ‘it takes a village,’” Frederick wrote on his GoFundMe page. “Today, I’m appealing to the village to support me in this step towards my future in leadership and in many endeavors that I hope will help shape our future and make the world a better place.”
For more information about Frederick’s trip or to donate, visit www.gofundme.com/swbqgv64.