Fifth-grader Emma DiMalanta ? She wrote a letter to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder asking if he could help save the life of Yousef Nadarkhani, an imprisoned Iranian pastor who is facing the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity.
Third-grader Abigail Cherian ? She started an effort in her classroom to collect Capri Sun drink pouches as part of a recycling effort to earn money for the school and make it a better place.
Fifth-grader Megan Klinger ? She volunteers her time at the Oakland County Pet Adoption Center (1700 Brown Rd.) in Auburn Hills. She’s already spent some time there playing with the cats in the shelter’s ‘Kitty City.? She plans to go back to walk and play with the dogs, so they can get the exercise they need.
Fourth-grader Becca Smiles ? She used the power of the pen to write an opinion piece for the OES Press advocating that the school should require ‘eco-friendly lunches.?
Fourth-grader Logan Prais ? He cleared snow, at no charge, from five driveways in his neighborhood, so the senior citizens who lived at these residences wouldn’t have to do it.
Fourth-grader Steve Tennant ? He’s gathered and displayed information on the snow leopard, an endangered cat that lives in the mountain ranges of South and Central Asia. He’s working to raise awareness about endangered animals.
Fifth-grade teacher Kristen Rhoades ? As part of a group called Blight Busters, she went to a neighborhood in Detroit and cleaned up the site of a condemned house, so the lot can be turned into a garden.
Fourth-grade teacher Barbara Johnston ? On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, she went to the Royalty House in Warren to help the Interfaith Center for Racial Justice with its Freedom Bus Project. Basically, the event entailed collecting items for the working poor such as shampoo, soap and other things that cannot be purchased with food stamps.