Whiz Kid: Rachael Petruccelli

Know a great kid who made Eagle Scout or did your local soccer team take the championship? They may be our next Patch Whiz Kids honoree.

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 MatthewH@patch,com. Be sure to include all of the information you see below, and a photo. This week’s honoree is Rachael Petruccelli.

• Name:  Rachael Petruccelli
• Age: 7
• School: She is in the second grade at P.S. 130
• Accomplishment: Semi-finalist for the New York City P.S. Art 2011 program.
• Kid's Key to Awesomeness: Rachael’s painting “My Room” is a self-portrait. Her work has a chance to be displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and included in a catalogue publication. The panel of judges included acclaimed artists, notable arts professionals and respected art educators.
• What Rachael says about her painting: “When I was drawing, I felt like an artist because I was drawing a self-portrait. I did 'wet-on-wet' and 'dry-on-wet.' In the background, I did my bed and my sister's bed. I used my favorite colors- green, purple and blue.” P.S. 130 Expressive Arts Teacher Susan Castellano says: “This painting was inspired by a lesson on self-portraits and the children's discussion of Frida Kahlo's work Self-Portrait With A Monkey. The children noticed many details in Kahlo's art, one of which was the background in her self-portraits. This lead to their idea of also including environment or setting in the background of their own self-portraits.” Way to go, Rachael!