Whiz Kids: Sixth-Graders Going to States for Irish History Play

Whiz Kids of the Week

• Name and Age: Jessica Hamacher and Jaime Kay, 11, sixth grade
• School: , Center for Gifted Students
• Whiz Kids' Accomplishment: Jessica and Jaime wrote and performed a 10-minute play about Ireland's potato famine, which began in 1845 and lasted six years. The famine caused more than one million Irish deaths and another million to flee the country. The play won a countywide National History Day competition, and now the girls move on to represent Pinellas County among 25 other counties at the state competition in Tallahassee on May 1, 2 and 3.
• Key to Awesomeness: Best friends Jessica and Jaime decided to do their National History Day project with a 10-minute play about the potato famine in Ireland. Their year-long project included about 30 primary sources, including interviews with family members of those effected and with museum directors in New York and Ireland. "We thought it was really interesting and we have Irish background," said Jaime. "It was interesting to find out about my heritage."
  
  The play opens in modern America with two friends getting ready for a St. Patrick's Day party, then leads the audience through a history of how a majority of the American Irish came to the United States during the widespread famine in mid-1800 Ireland. The girls entirely wrote and acted their play, including a chilling letter sung between the main characters, two best friends in Ireland parted when one moves to America.
  
  The girls' play won at their school, then went up against all the schools in Pinellas County, and won. The girls said it's been great working together on the project since they are best friends. "We both love it," said Jaime. "Sometimes we get frustrated," Jessica admitted, but it doesn't last long. The biggest argument they had, Jaime's father Alan Kay, a history teacher at East Lake High School, said, was deciding where to eat for their celebratory dinners. Final decision: Applebee's and Sweet Tomatoes.
  
  (The girls are continuously seeking to perfect their play through interviews. They still seek community members who may have had family members impacted by Ireland's potato famine.)

Know a great kid who made Eagle Scout or did your local soccer team take the championship? They could be our next Patch Whiz Kid honoree. Nominate your Whiz Kid by emailing editor Katie Dolac at Kathryn.Dolac@patch.com.