Whiz Kid: Miller Place Senior a Scholar Athlete and Volunteer

Name: Alexandra Nealis - Age 17

School: Miller Place High School - 12th grade

Accomplishments: Nealis was named by the College Board as an Advanced Placement (A.P.) Scholar. During high school she challenged herself with seven A.P. classes, as well as College Spanish. She has been on the high honor roll for every quarter of her high school career and has received the Award for General Academic Excellence each year. As a sophomore, she was the recipient of her high school's Award for Excellence in Criminal Justice and the Award for Excellence in Sports Management.

An active community volunteer, she has been a teacher at St. Louis De Montfort's Vacation Bible School and a co-teacher of a religion class during the school year, a Running with the Stars camp counselor, a Special Olympics volunteer and a three year assistant at the Joe Keany Memorial Run. She has also volunteered her time with the Hope for Jesse Foundation, Safe Halloween, PTO events, Students Taking Action for Tomorrow's Environment (S.T.A.T.E.) and has sewn turbans for cancer patients and participated in Score for the Cure, a fundraiser game held by the basketball team to raise money for cancer research.

A well-rounded Varsity athlete, Alexandra was captain of her basketball team, being named All-League for 2011-12 and selected as All-County Academic this year. She plays varsity tennis, played goalie on the varsity lacrosse team and ran the 200 meter event as a member of the varsity spring track team. She was also a two-year member of the varsity cross country team and has been playing on the Infant Jesus CYO basketball team for the past four years as a forward.

Now working as a babysitter and a tutor, Alexandra plans to major in chemistry in college and is considering a career in research.