Whiz Kid: A Scholarship Winner

Each week Naperville Patch will seek 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 Patch Whiz Kid. Submit your nomination in our comment box below or e-mail the information to Local Editor Mary Ann Lopez at . Be sure to include all of the information that's featured below.

This week's nomination includes several Whiz Kid is a scholarship winner! Check it out!

• Whiz Kid: Joshua Goralski
• Whiz Kid’s school: Rockhurst University
• Whiz Kid’s accomplishment: Joshua Goralski; a Naperville resident has been chosen as one of the first recipients of the Shire ADHD Scholarship.  A graduate of who attends Rockhurst University, Goralski was selected in part based on his school and community activities, work experience, honors and awards, and a personal essay. Individuals in the United States diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who are planning to pursue higher education were eligible to apply. 
• Whiz Kids' Key to Awesomeness (what made him/her successful?): Goralski was one of 25 recipients from across the United States to receive the Shire ADHD Scholarship, which includes a $2,000 monetary award and offers a prepaid year of ADHD coaching services provided by the Edge Foundation, to assist with the transition to higher education. 

An all-around student, Goralski is actively involved, at Rockhurst University, and in the community.  He was co-president of the PEERS Student Health Organization, chair of the service and honors program in the student senate, captain of the cross-country team, webmaster and member of the track team, advisory board member and activities chair for the honors program, and board member of the Key Club service organization. In addition, Goralski was involved in the small faith sharing group and running club.

Among his community activities were volunteering at , Harvesters Food Pantry, and People’s Resource Center, serving as assistant director of the Life Retreat planning team and as a member for Voices for Justice, and mission trips to Nicaragua, Haiti, and West Virginia. At the same time, Goralski worked at Rockhurst University as a desk manager, , Windy City Liquidation as the warehouse manager and at Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy as a fundraising and development intern.

Goralski is the recipient of the Local Kiwanis Community Service Scholarship, the Best Buy Community Service Scholarship, the President’s Volunteer Service Award, the Rockhurst University Regents Scholarship, and the Rev. Freeman Memorial Scholarship from the Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst University. He was invited to speak at the 2011 National Collegiate Honors Council Conference and freshman honors induction at Rockhurst University.

“Goralski is a great role model and should be very proud of all that he has accomplished,” said Michael Yasick, Senior Vice President of Shire’s ADHD business. “At Shire, we recognize that the transition to higher education can be challenging for students and we’re pleased to provide Goralski with both financial support and ADHD coaching services during this exciting and important time in his life.”

 The ADHD coaching is provided by The Edge Foundation, a national nonprofit organization.  “The recipients have all distinguished themselves and shown enthusiasm for transitioning to higher education. The proactive support of an Edge Coach may help them with their educational endeavours,” says Robert Tudisco, Executive Director of The Edge Foundation.

• Additional information: The ADHD Scholarship program was developed and implemented by Shire, a global specialty biopharmaceutical company that focuses on helping those diagnosed with ADHD as well as other medical conditions.  This scholarship program is part of Shire’s effort to develop additional services that help support ADHD patients, their families, and the ADHD community.  For more information on the program including a full list of award recipients, please see www.shireADHDscholarship.com.

Included in the ADHD coaching services are weekly sessions with specially-trained ADHD coaches who are passionate about their work.  The students set weekly goals and action plans to meet those goals and have e-mail and phone support from their coaches to help keep them on track.  This support may be important in the higher education environment where they are living independently, have more free time and less adult supervision. For more information on the Edge Foundation, please visit the company's website: www.edgefoundation.org.