Gateway Young Achievers 2006

Hamill shows business skills,
other accomplishments

(Last in a Series)

Fourteen-year-old Grant Hamill already has his own personal catering company, "Traveling Espresso." You might describe the firm as a "mobile Starbucks."

Grant started the company two years ago to provide special party refreshments for private parties. So far, his biggest job was a graduation party for 85 people.

In addition, Grant and his sister, 17-year-old Sarah, have another business operation. They provide babysitting services for a dozen or more Webster Grove-area families.

These early entrepreneurial efforts, together outstanding grades, volunteer service efforts and leadership skills, helped earn him 2006 Gateway Young Achiever of the Year status.

Last May, 12 St. Louis-area elementary, middle and high school students were given the Young Achiever designation. They were selected from hundreds of nominations to receive the award and a $1,000 savings bond.

(This is the 8th and final profile by Young Saint Louis.com of the elementary and middle school winners. If you'd like to read the previous profiles, click on Past Stories at the top of the home page and go to June, 2006; July, 2006, August, 2006; September, 2006; October, 2006; November, 2006, and December, 2006.)

Grant' award was based primarily on accomplishments when he was a student at Hixson Middle School in Webster Groves.

He is now a freshman at Webster Groves High School. He's continuing many of the efforts that earned him the Young Achiever status.

Grant has been in a gifted academic program since he was in 3rd grade. As an 8th grader, he attended an Honors Geometry class at Webster Groves High. This year, his gifted classes are in English and social studies.

The social studies class includes a variety of research subjects. His first was a report on the current geo-political situation in Europe.

His latest was a little more exotic. He did a report on foods in Thailand. That included creating a meal featuring "pad-thai." That's a spicy dish of rice noodles, vegetables and meat (either chicken, beef or shrimp).

His Young Achiever's nomination also noted a variety of volunteer efforts. Many involved his church, Webster Groves Presbyterian. He did regular mission work for such programs at Room at the Inn, Webster-Rock Hill Ministries and Habitat for Humanity.

The Room at the Inn program had him helping to prepare a meal for homeless people who are given over-night accommodations at his church. Grant and his family ate with the homeless families and then cleaned up afterwards.

A new volunteer activity is one-on-one tutoring in the William Yandell Tutoring Program. Grant helps a 5th grader with his homework once a week for 1½ hours.

He's already signed up for a weeklong church mission trip next June to Washington, D.C. There, he'll work on a variety of cleanup and repair projects in low-income areas.

Grant combines his interest in running with charity work. For instance, he placed 3rd in a 5K Jingle Bell Run this fall to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation. He also placed 2nd in a 4-mile Run for Webster to benefit Edgewood Children's Center and the Webster High School Foundation.

"I like to take part in a variety of runs in the 5-kilometer (3.2-mile) range," he said.

He's completed the fall junior varsity soccer season and will participate in the high school tennis program in the spring.

One unique program from middle school was Destination Imagination. That involves kids in brainstorming solutions to a variety of unusual problems. The teams get no advance warning about what the problems might be.

For instance, in one national tournament, Grant's team was put in Venice, Italy, and told to come up with a unique solution involving a gondola in the city's canals.

Grant said, "We decided to look at the canals from the perspective of a fish. We painted the gondola blue and yellow and then showed that the fish would see the color as green." (In art, you can mix blue and yellow paints to achieve green.)

He also plans to expand "Traveling Espresso" company in the coming years. "I want to keep that company going through high school. I don't know about the college years yet. You're pretty busy in college," he said.

He's created a new promotional flyer and circulating them to prospective clients. The flyer says, in part: "Brrr…it's getting cold outside. Warm up with some 'Traveling Espresso.' Wouldn't it be fun to have lattes, espressos and mocha at your next gathering."

He promises to use only the best ingredients, such as Starbucks coffee, Ghirardelli chocolate and Oberweis milk.

Two years ago, he raised seed money from investors to buy equipment. "I paid back the investors the first year so everything is free and clear now," he said.

He catered a party in mid-December to keep his entrepreneurial dream alive.

(If you'd like to know more about the Gateway Young Achievers program, visit www.YoungAchievers.us. The deadline for 2007 nominations is January 31, 2007)