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Schools

Whiz Kid: Adya Roy

Young people in our community are doing great things! This week meet Adya Roy, a budding author who challenges herself to improve access to education for kids in other parts of the world.

Name and Age: Adya Roy, 14.

School:

Accomplishment: While an eighth grader at , Roy, of Danville, wrote a novel, "Zoss: A Different World," during the national 30-day writing challenge that occurs each November, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). 

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The novel tells the story of a French scientist, Morgani, who discovers life on another planet, but is unable to prove it before her death. A fictional Danville resident and child prodigy, Aman, who graduates from at 10 years-old, and U.C. Berkeley at 13 years-old, takes up the challenge of completing the scientist's work.

Roy has published her novel, and sells it on Amazon.com, donating 100 percent of the proceeds from its sale to build a school in the eastern state of West Bengal in India.

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Key to Awesomeness: Roy works to the share the advantage of her access to education with those who don't have the same access elsewhere, using her creativity to meet her goal.

Roy says, "I am a great believer in education and do believe in making it available to all."

Roy, who has family in West Bengal, was struck on a visit there by her encounters with children eager to learn, but who have very limited or no school sites. 

Roy's grandfather is retired, and now runs a tribal school that serves 14 villages.

According to Roy, the children "currently study under a shade in the front yard of an uninhabited house."

She says she has raised $2,200 from the sale of her book at $9.99 per copy, towards her overall goal of $50,000 needed to build a "proper (school) building" on land that has already been purchased by her grandfather and family friends.

If you would like to purchase a copy of Roy's book, email her at adyaroy@hotmail.com, or purchase directly through Amazon

Know a great "whiz kid"? Contact Kirsten Branch at kirsten.e.branch@gmail.com to tell us about them!

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