This week's Whiz Kid is Danny Hicks, a 17-year-old senior at Ferndale High School.

Danny Hicks

• Age: 17
  
• School: Senior at Ferndale High School/CASA.
• Accomplishment: Danny is carrying a 4.0 GPA and is dual-enrolled at Oakland County Community College. He is also second in command for DeMolay (kind of like the Masons but for teen males) for the state and is scheduled to be the organization's state master councilor next year if he remains in Michigan. Danny plans to apply to the Air Force Academy and West Point and just received his nomination from Congressman Sander Levin, D-MI, a couple of weeks ago. And he was recently elected elder at Drayton Avenue Presbyterian Church. Oh, and one more thing... he scored a 32 on his ACTs. (A 36 is the highest possible score.) "He is planning a military career and truly wants to switch to politics after his retirement in hopes of becoming president," said his mother, Melinda Hicks. "He's got some lofty goals."
• Key to awesomeness: "I owe everything to ... DeMolay, a youth service organization," Danny says. "I joined in my freshman year, and it has been the No. 1 motivator in my life ever since."

Each week, Ferndale Patch seeks 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 Ferndale Patch Whiz Kid.  Submit your nomination in our comment box below or e-mail the information to Terry.Parris@patch.com. Be sure to include all of the following information:

• Nominator's name
• Nominator's e-mail address
• Whiz Kid's name
• Whiz Kid's age
• Whiz Kid's school
• Whiz Kid's accomplishment
• Whiz Kid's key to awesomeness (what made him/her successful?)

Know of a Whiz Kid? Send us your suggestion by telling us in the comments or e-mail Terry.Parris@patch.com.

Correction: Congressmen Sander Levin gave Danny Hicks his nomination.

Follow us on Twitter or "like" us on Facebook for Ferndale updates.