Community Corner

Whiz Kid: Rachel Hollander Perfects Balancing Act

Rachel Hollander, 16, of West Bloomfield volunteers in myriad extracurricular activities outside of her National Honor Society service at Farmington Hills Harrison High School.

Each week, West Bloomfield Patch features students doing amazing things in their schools and in their communities. 

Rachel Hollander

  • Age: 16
  • School: Farmington Hills Harrison High School
  • Achievement: Rachel has volunteered at the of West Bloomfield as part of the Friends@Home program for the past four years to help children with special needs bond with someone else in an environment that is most comfortable to the child — his or her own home. The Friends@Home program paired Rachel with 7-year-old Shoshanna Arnold four years ago, an arrangement Rachel said has been extremely rewarding for her and Shoshanna.

    "When we first met, (Shoshanna) was only 3½, and she could only say the first syllable in my name. Now she knows my entire first name. It's so cool," Rachel said. "She's taught me to be more patient and understanding, and in addition, she's so much fun. It's always, 'go-go-go' with her."

    Perhaps more importantly, Rachel has managed to balance her time volunteering at Friendship Circle with myriad other volunteering efforts, including as the youth team coordinator for the , attending classes as part of the high school youth program at and serving in the National Honor Society at Harrison High going into her junior year. Rachel said she hopes to be a teacher after attending a university and that she would enjoy working with special-needs children as a career.
  • Key to awesomeness: Rachel is highly organized, according to her mother, Jennifer Hollander. "She knows the bottom-line things are important as far as school and community service,  and she knows she likes to play with friends too, so she has a good balance," Hollander said.

    In addition, Rachel can talk with a variety of different people. Hollander marveled at the way Rachel connected her brother Ari Hollander, 13, with volunteering opportunities at Friendship Circle and how she communicates to help him with problems that arise as a result.

    "I took (Rachel and Ari) out for a snack last winter and listened to them talk about their volunteer experiences — the difficulties and challenges, offering ideas and solutions and just sharing their experiences. They have completely different personalities, but they've bonded over (volunteering). And to be able to build that is different from any vacation we could have taken together," Hollander said.

    She added that while her daughter was volunteering during a summer camp at Friendship Circle, Rachel learned that one of the special-needs children that she was partnered with did not care to go swimming. As swimming was a part of the curriculum at summer camp, Rachel visited with that child's parent to establish what it was they could do instead that the child would enjoy.

    "If you're going to volunteer with special-needs children, you need to be flexible, and she showed that," Hollander said. "When she's there, she's there fully — she's not thinking about other things, and the children can tell."

Do you know our next Whiz Kid?

West Bloomfield Patch welcomes suggestions for students, youth groups and even sports teams who wow us with their accomplishments. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as Whiz Kid. Submit your nomination in our comment box below or email the information to editor Tim.Rath@patch.com. Please include all these details:

Find out what's happening in West Bloomfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • Nominator's name
  • Whiz Kid's name and age
  • Whiz Kid's school
  • Whiz Kid's accomplishment
  • What makes him or her successful


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