Last in 8-part series

More citizenship awards for Tori Fenemor

Twelve-year-old Tori Fenemor moved to St. Louis less than three years ago. But, she sure got involved in a hurry in her school, church and community.

Last spring, she was named a Gateway 2002 Young Achiever of the Year. At the time, she was a 6th grader at Hardin Middle School in St. Charles.

Before the end of the 2001-2002 year, she received several more awards. Among those were the school's Citizenship Award, Physical Education Award and annual Honor Roll. She also earned a seat on the Student Council.

As a 7th grader at Hardin, Tori is back at work in school and the community.

In September, she was named the Hardin Middle School's Student of the Month. She also was elected to the Student Council and was on the school's Straight-A Honor Roll for the first quarter.

At 5-foot-9, she's also is the leading rebounder for her select basketball team in St. Charles. As a member of a traveling team, she and her teammates play in a tournament just about every weekend.

Coming up are tournaments as far away as Springfield, Mo., and Chicago.

After joining the traveling team, Tori cut back on the number of team sports she played. Before that, she's also been active in soccer, softball and volleyball.

She said, "With all the time the select basketball team takes, I had to focus my attention."

But, she hasn't cut down on her charitable efforts or on being a "best friend" to her younger sister, 10-year-old Kylie.

This fall, she and her sister formed a team to take part in the Adopt a Family program. That involved earning money so they could provide Christmas clothes and toys to a needy St. Louis area family.

Tori is also helping with the Adopt a Family program at Hardin School. That involves making contributions to a "jar wars" program to collect money for the Christmas gifts.

One of the charitable contributions that earned Tori her Gateway Achiever award involved personal fund-raising in the wake of Sept. 11.

She and a friend, Sarah Hodges, formed a Kids Who Care program. They made T-shirts and flyers and set up a collection station in front of a St. Charles photo shop.

They collected over $1,000 in 10 hours. The money went to the Red Cross' relief fund to aid victims of the World Trade Center disaster.

In nominating Tori for the Achiever award, Hardin Middle Principal Michael Ebert said, "Tori cares very much for everyone. She will always do what is best for them before thinking about herself."

(Young Saint Louis.com has been profiling the elementary and middle school Achiever winners. YSL.com published the original story in May, 2002. To read that article, click here. To read individual profile stories, click here for June, 2002; click here for July, 2002; click here for August, 2002; click here for September, 2002; click here for October, 2002; click here for November, 2002, and click here for December, 2002.)

Tori credits her school mates for making her feel at home in St. Charles. They moved from Normal, Ill. At that time, she said, "I was worried about going to a new school."

When asked about that now, she said, "My classmates are all real nice."

They must have liked Tori also since she was named to the student council in her first year in St. Charles. She continues to serve there. "I like being on the student council," she said.

While she's having fun helping others now, she's got firm personal goals for the future. Her goal is to study journalism and photography in college. Then, she wants to be a photo-journalist with National Geographic magazine.

To that end, Tori spends a lot of time with her 35mm camera. Her favorite spot to take pictures is at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

"I like to get down on my stomach and shoot up at the plants. I like to get weird views of things," she said.

But, before she gets her photographer job, she'd like to play pro basketball in the WNBA. She's hoping to grow into a 6-footer.

Asked about her choice of a college, Tori said, "I'd like to study photography in the Fine Arts Department of Washington U." She's also attracted to the fact that Wash U's women's basketball team is a perennial power in the NCAA's Division 3.