Country Day junior has sights on bright lights

Mary English Moore, a junior at Charlotte Country Day, has released two music videos online and is getting ready to release another, called "Like a Dream."

Her other two songs, "At It Again," and "Make This Last," have more than 99,300  and 51,800 hits on YouTube, respectively.

Mary, who performs as Mary English, has been a part of Theatre Charlotte's Junior Cabaret, CPCC's "Aladdin" and N.C. Dance Theater's "The Nutcracker." She's also been in a couple of Children's Theatre productions and "Godspell" at Country Day.

At school, Mary, 16, is a big sister with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program and part of the Aquilifers Club, which involves members, chosen by past volunteer work and GPA, volunteering at school events and with city agencies. She's also a Special Olympics volunteer and youth leader at Myers Park Presbyterian Church.

Watch "At It Again" here:

Myers Park, Country Day, Providence Day win local WorldQuest competition

Three Charlotte schools will advance to a national Academic WorldQuest trivia competition in April.

In Charlotte's fourth annual Academic WorldQuest contest Wednesday, Myers Park High came in first, Charlotte Country Day second, and Providence Day in third.

The international trivia competition, hosted by the World Affairs Council of Charlotte, emphasizes the importance of international events, commerce and culture. Questions ranged from current events to history to international faces in the news.

The teams will travel to Washington, D.C., to compete (30 other councils in the country participate) on April 26.

Twenty other high schools participated Wednesday:

Cannon School
Cato Middle College High
Charlotte Catholic High
Charlotte Christian
Charlotte Latin
CMS - Exchange Students Team
Crossroads Charter Senior High
Davidson Day
East Gaston High
East Mecklenburg High
Highland School of Technology
Independence High
Military and Global Leadership Academy
North Mecklenburg High
Providence High
Rocky River High
Sun Valley High
Union County Early College High
Vance High
Weddington High

A look at Akhil Singh's summer India trip

Here are some photos from Country Day senior Akhil Singh's most recent India trip. Read the previous post to learn about Akhil's involvement in bringing light to Indian villages. (Click on the photos to enlarge.)

Akhil Singh brings light to more Indian villages

Akhil Singh, a Country Day senior, returned to India this summer and helped install solar-powered lights in three villages.

By Jeff Siner/jsiner@charlotteobserver.com

(I wrote about Akhil and his quest to bring villages light in an April story.)

He raised the money for an organization that installs the lights, called Light a Billion Lives, headquartered in New Delhi.

But instead of visiting villages as he has in the past, Akhil lived in them for two weeks.

"It was really humbling, but at the same time it's a whole different part of the world," he said.

He had to endure living with an old man who was convinced Akhil was trying to rob his village, getting sick once and quickly learning the colloquialisms of the Hindi dialect the villagers spoke.

"It was good material for my college essay," he joked.

But his trip was also enjoyable. Akhil said he liked the communal aspect of the village and how important family and community were to the people.

"You get the whole village together in the evening time, and you eat dinner together and sit at the marketplace together," he said.

Akhil has now lit five villages -- at a cost of about $3,500 each -- and is in the process of funding a sixth. He tackled learning how to fundraise and ask corporations for donations with no experience, but he's been successful: Since 2010, he's raised more than $18,000.

"The corporate fundraising turned around really well, and I may be lucky enough to get an additional three villages," Akhil said.

He'll continue his fundraising efforts this year and go to India again next summer to install more lighting.

Country Day 8th grader raises money for Crohn's Disease research

Country Day eighth-grader Caroline Funderburg has worked hard to raise money for Crohn's Disease research, and she and her friends will be participating in the Charlotte Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis Walk June 1.

The cause is personal for Caroline. She was diagnosed with the disease in 2009 when she was in the fifth grade. The diagnosis explained why she kept getting stomach aches (and had to miss 80 days of school that year).

The disease is an inflammatory bowel disease. The Mayo Clinic says it's treatable but not curable.

Caroline is into her third year of remission, but she decided in the sixth grade to start doing something to help find a cure.

To fundraise for research, Caroline, who attends Country Day, sold Cookies-in-a-Jar -- dry cookie mix -- to classmates and had some success. The next year she decided to hold a bake sale in her neighborhood, and with the help of her friends, raised more than $800.

Caroline and friends at a bake sale that raised money for
Crohn's Disease research.
Photos courtesy of Patty Funderburg

This April, Caroline had an even more successful bake sale, raising more than $1,200. "I felt so lucky to have such an incredible community around me," she wrote in an email.

Caroline and her family have also raised money on teams -- about $50,000 -- for the Charlotte Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis Walk and Team Challenge Half Marathon.

Caroline said she hopes the money raised will help the search for a cure, and that there's been a silver lining to her diagnosis.

"Not only am I stronger than when I was diagnosed three years ago," she wrote, "but my relationships with my friends and community are stronger as well."

For more information about the Charlotte Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis Walk, visit http://bit.ly/12kgeTT.

Spanish skills earn Country Day junior national award

Each year, a select 12 students from across the nation are chosen to receive the Junior Travel Award.

Because of his achievement on the National Spanish Examination, Robert Vann, a junior at Charlotte Country Day School, has won the 2012 Junior Travel Award for his excellent demonstration of skills in the Spanish language.

The national award is valued at more than $3,000. A small group of students become eligible for it by earning a high score on the National Spanish Examination. Select students then submit samples of their written and oral work in Spanish to a selection committee.

As part of the award, Vann will travel to Mexico in July with the 11 other winners.

Photo: Robert Vann stands with his Charlotte Country Day School Spanish teacher, Paty Prieto. Photo courtesy of Lee-Anne Black.

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Do you know a Young Achiever? Are you a Young Achiever? Email me, bpenland@charlotteobserver.com.