OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — A Blue Valley Northwest senior is giving back to the school that gave so much to him.
Timothy Park mentors children at Harmony Elementary and is making a huge difference in their lives, according to their teachers.
“Follow what you enjoy,” Park said.
That’s exactly what Park is doing. Harmony Elementary is his alma mater. It’s a service he started two years ago, and it’s grown from what was once called “Tim Time,” where he would work with two students at a time, to what’s now being coined “Husky Helpers.”
“I think I’ve really grown this because it was something that I really enjoyed,” Park said.
Husky Helpers, headed up by Park, is manned by eight other students at Northwest. Once a week they spend an hour of their day inside the classrooms at Harmony Elementary, teaching lessons in STEM. It’s his second year doing it.
“I’m teaching these students how to face a problem and use the materials required to making something cool or solve the problem,” the senior said.
“He has a drive, but not just a drive. He also has the people skills. He works for himself but he also includes others,” mentor Sue Thacker said.
Thacker was Park’s elementary school teacher 7 years ago, to be exact.
She said this young man continues to inspire her day in and day out.
“He taught me things that I have continued to teach to my students,” Thacker said.
Park and his team work with first- and second-graders, and he collaborates with Thacker to create his lesson plans.
“It’s fun,” Park said.
Husky Helpers will continue after Park graduates. He’s trained underclassmen to carry on his legacy.
The BV Northwest senior heads to Princeton in the fall and plans to become an electrical engineer.
Outside of Husky Helpers, he’s the president of his class, the vice president of community service for DECA and is on the school’s varsity golf team.
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