Westminster Christian School senior Lexi Wallery is starting a club at school to help teach children and adults to read. The club is working with Alfalit, faith-based non-profit that works to combat illiteracy. The organization works to help people in 24 countries.
“There is so much more we can do,” she says.
Students who join the club will earn volunteer hours. They go through training and commit to a certain number of hours per week.
Wallery learned about the organization when she accompanied her mom to an event to help sell jewelry and art pieces.
“There were people there, they worked for Alfalit,” she says. “They caught my attention when they said 800,000 people in Miami Dade couldn’t read.”
In 54 years Alfalit has taught eight million people to read or do math. The Alfalit representatives showed her pictures of their trip to Peru to teach reading.
“They will be going to the Dominican Republic at the end of the school year,” Wallery says. “They have centers there. They are going to spread the word, and we are going to help the kids and adults, we are going to teach them how to read.”
There they will teach the children how to read Spanish.
“We’re going to give them kid books,” she says. “Since the club is faith based, we are going to help them to read enough to read the bible.
And to help them read medicine bottles, nutrition labels, and pre-natal care information such as what to eat when they are pregnant.”
At school, Wallery has been on the junior varsity team since ninth grade. She plans to try out again this year. While she’s played since sixth grade, she plays for fun and exercise.
“This year, we have a bunch of competition,” she says. “There are a bunch of girls on my team, they play club. I’m trying to focus more on my clubs this year and my grades.”
Outside of school, Wallery is a member of the Junior Opera Guild.
“We do a bunch of events and donate money to the Opera Guild of Miami,” she says. “I did it last year. I’m going to do it again this year.”
Through the Junior Opera Guild, she’s participated in events with groups such as the Girls Scouts.
“We played with them and did their make-up,” she says. “We did a fashion show.”
The girls also usher at Opera events. Even so, Wallery has not been able to stay for a show. She has heard opera singers because they have performances at the meetings.
Wallery also plays piano. She’s taken classes at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.
Because one of her friends has a club to help children with autism, she goes on trips to Atlantis Academy, where her friend’s brother attends school.
“We go to his school somethings and we play with them and we do arts and crafts,” she says.
Working with the kids has changed her perspective.
“I learned to appreciate everything I have,” she says. “They are so happy. Every time we go they have the biggest smiles on their faces. I want to give more to others.”
Giving to others is one of the reasons she plans to go into pre-med in college. She also wants to minor in business.
She’s considering becoming a dentist but she’s investigating other options.
“I’m going to do an internship with a dermatologist,” she says. “I shadowed my aunt, who is a Physician’s Assistant, in Pennsylvania this summer.”
Her top schools are the University of Miami, Florida State, Fordham and Wake Forest.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
