Whiz Kid: Timothy Stead a Scholar and Volunteer

Name: Timothy Stead - Age 17

School: Miller Place High School - Grade 12o

Accomplishments: Stead has taken numerous AP courses throughout his four years at MPHS. He earned the College Board's AP Scholar Award and has been on the high honor roll for every quarter of high school, earning him the General Academic Excellence Award for three consecutive years. He is a member of the National Honor Society, the Foreign Language Honor Society and the Future Business Leaders of America and is in this year's Yearbook Club.

The senior has played the tenor saxophone in the concert, symphonic concert and jazz bands. He performed at the New York State School Music Association's (NYSSMA) competition and received a grade of A on the level five piece that he performed. He also performed with the MPHS symphonic concert band at the Music in the Parks festival and the band received a rating of Superior during both the years that he participated.

Stead has been on the varsity cross country and varsity winter and spring track teams for each of his four years at MPHS. As a junior, his cross country team earned the title of League VI champions. He was captain of the cross country team this past fall and is currently captain of his winter track team. He received the Scholar Athlete Award for cross country for each of his four years on the team.

Stead is also an active participant in community service. He has donated over 200 hours volunteering at Christ Church's Hot Meals Soup Kitchen in Port Jefferson and has volunteered with Autism Speaks' Walk Now for Autism. He actively engages in volunteering at his high school through his participation in Safe Halloween, Homecoming and Spirit Week events and musical performances at the Miller Place Friends of the Arts Ice Cream Social.  He helped organize the first Miller Place High School Musical Chairs Team Club, which involved all four of the schools in the district and raised money that was donated to a local charity.

In the summers, he has worked as a handyman, landscaper and at Star Communications. He has also provided child care services and tutored in chemistry and trigonometry.

He enjoys personal engineering endeavors, which have included building a boombox to exceed sound pressure levels, designing and building a subwoofer with performance levels that exceed commercial products and constructing an air potato cannon that could shoot approximately 250 yards. He also enjoys reading about energy conservation and is interested in pursuing mechanical engineering in college, in particular the study of energy conservation.