|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Westminster Christian School senior Leovigildo (Leo) Leon is Westminster’s Silver Knight nominee in the General Scholarship Category.
Leon has created his own community service project called Rebel’s Rescue. Rebel is his dog, a seven-year-old chocolate lab, that he had trained and had certified as a therapy dog.
Leon takes him to Pedikidz to interact with the children.
“He looks awesome. He’s adorable,” he says. “Rebel doesn’t bark, except when you get him super excited. Most of the time he likes to go to people and have them pet him.”
Leon’s family adopted the lab puppy when he was two months old. They were living in Switzerland at the time. The family has also lived in Spain.
After moving to Miami, they decided to train Rebel so he could work with the special needs children. They got the idea because of a family friend who ran the special needs center.
“Rebel’s always been a nice dog to everyone he meets,” Leon says.
Now they take Rebel to the special needs center every two or three weeks.
When they go, Rebel will visit with the wheelchair bound children. The children who are more mobile will come over to the dog to pet him and give him treats. Leon and Rebel usually visit with the kids for about an hour.
“He loves it a lot,” Leon says. “As a lab he loves to eat food and he gets a lot of treats there. When we are about to do it, he can tell we are going to this place, and he gets all excited.”
In addition to his Silver Knight project, Leon earns community service hours by going on Blue Missions trips. He’s gone twice – this past summer and the summer before that. Both missions involved bringing water to a remote village in the Dominican Republic.
“We were doing the pipes, trenching with picks and shovels,” he says. “Its hard work. You are with your friends, and you get to meet the villagers who are always nice. It’s a fun time.”
Leon says a lot of Westminster students participate on the Blue Missions trips and they often go together.
“Me and my cousin were the first to go two years ago and we told our friends about it, so we got a group together to go between junior and senior year,” he says.
He learned a lot going on the trips.
“There I go to see how other people live,” he says. “You’re doing good there, you’re helping villagers so that’s great.”
He also earned community service volunteering to help out with the adoption days at PetSmart.
At school, Leon is a member of the Science National Honor Society, the English Honor Society, Tri-M, the Foreign Language Honor Society, Rho Kappa, Mu Alpha Theta and the Chess Club.
He’s in Model United Nations and has competed several times.
“I like pretending to be diplomats and solving actual problems going on in the world,” he says.
Leon has applied to the University of Florida. Norte Dame University, Vanderbilt, Southern Methodist University and Duke University. He’s already been accepted to the University of Georgia. He plans to major in biology, possibly microbiology.
“I really like researching,” he says. “I’d like to do scientific research in college and see where it takes me.”
He interned at Holland Knight for a banking attorney. While he liked the experience, he realized he still wants to be a scientist or a doctor.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
ABOUT US:
For more Miami community news, look no further than Miami Community Newspapers. This Miami online group of newspapers covers a variety of topics about the local community and beyond. Miami’s Community Newspapers offers daily news, online resources, podcasts and other multimedia content to keep readers informed. With topics ranging from local news to community events, Miami’s Community Newspapers is the ideal source for staying up to date with the latest news and happenings in the area. Additionally, the newspaper has exclusive Miami community podcasts, providing listeners with an in-depth look into Miami’s culture. Whether you’re looking for local Miami news, or podcasts about the community, Miami’s Community Newspapers has you covered.
