SOUTH WAYNE — Like a lot of boys his age, Elliot Hagen said he’d love to be a football player when he grows up. But it’s his accomplishments off the field, even as an eighth grader, that may ultimately lead him to a promising future — tackling math equations, perhaps, instead of opposing ball carriers.
“Math has always kind of been his subject,” said the 14-year-old’s proud mother, Alyssa, who works in the South Wayne schools as a paraprofessional, never too far from her son. “It’s something that just caught on with him.”
As a result of his hard work, Hagen has been invited to a six-day summer program in Chicago for middle school-aged students. They are either nominated by local educators or selected via academic partnerships for the upcoming National Youth Leadership Forum, and this year’s STEM-focused event will take Hagen to the urban campus of Loyola University — along the lake on the city’s far northern border.
Hagen has no idea who submitted his name for his invitation to NYLF event, but several teachers at Black Hawk are “suspects” both mom and son agreed.
Held on campus, the forum “offers a pre-college environment focused on career exploration, featuring workshops, simulations, and team-based challenges,” according to the organization, which has held its previous forums at such prestigious locations as the universities of Cambridge and Oxford in the United Kingdom, or even Yale in the United States.
This year’s participants will stay in Loyola University’s Chicago dorms, giving them a taste of collegiate life. But mostly while there, the students are busy “building and coding robots, solving mock STEM mysteries, and participating in medical simulations.”
For Hagen, that shouldn’t be a problem, according to his mother. She pointed out that he loves to tinker and helped build a race car out of little more than sheer curiosity and determination.
His next project, though, has a uniquely financial focus — raising money. While the cost for the NYLF Explore STEM program varies from year-to-year — and even by location — Hagen and his mom estimate they’ll need to raise north of $3,300 to be able to pay for him to go to the Chicago event. That’s why she’s asking the community for help with donations.
“We are really just so proud of him and are supporting him,” said Alyssa Hagen. “We’d be grateful if anyone wanted to help.”
Said Ellliot: “I never thought something like this would be possible for me.”
Editors note: The family said those wishing to donate can do so via Venmo at:
Alyssafagen08
or via PayPal, at:
alyssahagen08@gmail.com
