At the end of each school day, Hope Wearing packs up her books, walks over to her teacher and thanks her.
And on days when Hope's second-grade teacher at Manchester GATE, Jill Nakamura, is busy, Hope waits until she's unoccupied, looks her in the eye and then expresses her gratitude.
"She does it every day," Nakamura said. "She is just such a thoughtful student."
Asked why she does it, Hope said calmly: "It's polite, and I think Mrs. Nakamura is a really good teacher."
At age 7, Hope already has made thinking of others a big part of her life.
For her recent birthday, she asked for money in lieu of gifts so she could donate to the Marjaree Mason Center and the Fresno Rescue Mission.
"It makes me feel good knowing that I have helped someone," Hope said.
When not helping others, the smiling second-grader participates in softball, soccer, tennis, guitar lessons and is in Brownie Troop 445.
A top student, Hope recently passed the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth exam and will be attending a rigorous three-week science course this summer in Los Angeles.
She excels in math and loves to read. She is proudest of an award she received in math and her abilities at softball and soccer. But her true passion may be acting.
She was in Cynthia Merrill School of Performing Arts' production of "The Aristocats, Kids!"
"I played a cat," Hope said. "And it was so much fun, I want to be an actress."
-- Robert Rodriguez
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