Coral Reef High School junior Blake Hesser is interested in business and at Coral Reef and is a member of Future Business Leaders of America and the Business Honor Society.
This year, Hesser plans to compete in the FBLA competition. He thinks his entry may have something to do with computers. He says he enjoys his business classes and plans to be an accountant after college.
Hesser also enjoys playing baseball and basketball. He’s plays for fun in the Howard Palmetto Baseball Softball Association league and for the past two years he has played on the Dave and Mary Alper Jewish Community Center baseball team in the Maccabi Games.
“Last summer we went to San Francisco,” he says. “We won three games, but we lost the first game in the elimination round.”
This summer at the games held in Omaha, the team was more successful, winning the silver medal.
While he loves playing in the games, he also enjoys going to the games because he is able to participate in a Mitzvah Day, an
“This year we went to the Nebraska Holocaust Memorial and cleaned the graves,” he says.
In San Francisco they helped prepare fields so underprivileged kids could play soccer.
Hesser also plays basketball in the high school league at the JCC and volunteers as a scorekeeper for the elementary school basketball league.
“I’m very active at the JCC. I’ve been there all my life and I know everything around there and I know everyone that’s there,” he says. “I’ve been going there almost every day since I was two or three years old.”
He’s garnered about 600 community service hours throughout high school, most of them at the JCC. He earned 480 working in the Leadership In Training position and as a Counselor In Training.
“As an LIT you are also kind of a camper,” he says.
He had the LIT position the summer before his freshman year and the next summer he was a counselor in training. he says. “I really enjoy it. You get to see your friends every day and you get to enjoy being in your bunk.”
He worked with first and second graders who went to the pool 45 minutes a day and took them on weekly field trips. They also played sports and participated in art and music.
Hesser’s community service includes a stint as vice president of Patriots Outreach. The group collected sports goods that were sent to Santo Domingo for needy kids.
For a change of pace, he worked on Stacy Glick’s successful judicial election campaign.
“I mostly went to polls and held signs trying to help get her name around and get people to vote for her,” he says. “It was during the early voting period; just one day. I wouldn’t mind doing it again. It was a lot of fun.”
As far as his future is concerned, Hesser is starting to think about college. The one thing he does know is that he’d love to attend the University of Florida.
