Second Grade: Clare Louise Hernandez

Published online on Friday, May. 16, 2008

Clare Hernandez does impressive things in the classroom at Century Elementary School in Clovis.

She loves math, writes short stories and has a 4.0 grade-point average. Her family makes weekly trips to the library, so it's no surprise that reading is one of her favorite subjects.

She wants to be a veterinarian.

"Clare is really functioning at a much higher level," says Century principal Ruth DiSanto. "We have to stay on our toes to make sure that we're allowing her to grow at her level."

But Clare also is motivated by her heart, and a belief that people at any age should act on their convictions.

She proved that in the normal process of losing her baby teeth. One by one, she put her 12 baby teeth under her pillow before going to bed and, the next morning, collected the three or four dollars left by the tooth fairy.

Then Clare donated the money to an organization that provides cleft palate surgery for needy children.

"I just want kids to have a normal life, just like everyone else," she says.

Clare has cut her hair three times for Locks of Love, an organization providing hairpieces for disadvantaged children who have lost their hair for medical reasons. She has run in fundraisers for Angel Babies of Hinds Hospice. She recycles, and saves the money for charity.

Then there's the treehouse in the backyard of her Clovis home. That's where Clare does her homework, and ponders the plot of her next short story. She's working on "The Treehouse Kids," a tale about youngsters who solve mysteries.

When she comes down, Clare finds time to take dance lessons.