Students who Shine: Matthew Pereda, 5th grader at Banyan Elementary School
MIAMI -- Leaders in the community come in all shapes and sizes.
In this case it's Matthew Pereda, a 5th grader at Banyan Elementary School in Sweetwater.
His teachers say he leads with a big heart and kindness.
"I would definitely call Mathew a leader," said Maria Sagovia, the media specialist and a teacher at Banyan. "He is the most motivated leader (and) sometimes I have to tell him to settle, settle, settle down."
Matthew needs all that energy, because the 10-year old goes non-stop.
His accomplishments so far:
- He is the captain of the safety patrol at his school.
- He is in the gifted program and has a perfect GPA.
- He also anchors the morning news on the school's in-house TV channel.
"It's thrilling to see students like him that want to be involved," school Principal Vanessa Faralda said. "He's constantly coming up with ideas. How can we make the school better? It's such a help."
His enthusiasm and hustle continue outside the classroom.
That's what impresses Faralda and all of Matthew's teachers, who are all touched by how caring he is by doing service work at school and in the community.
And he is no stranger to hard work.
"I go to the beaches and clean every garbage that there is," he said. "If I see garbage, I put in a trash bag. Sometimes I do toy drives, food drives."
Matthew said he has a real love for Banyan Elementary.
His teachers are big reason why.
His admiration is clear.
"All of those teachers are like family," Matthew said. "They're so nice that I wish they were part of my family.
In addition to his kindness and leadership, Matthew is an A+ student, who takes his academics very seriously.
"Our Honor Society at Banyan is an elite club of members who academically (are) above average," teacher Maria Segovia said. "And Mathew was chosen without hesitation by his teachers.
The boy's caring nature is seen all over the school.
He walks younger students to class, helps them with their juice boxes and snacks.
Matthew's twin sister, Angela, who likes to boasts she's two minutes older than he is, says his big heart was present during their recent Future Educators of American project.
"The thing that we did was write cards for cancer," she said. "He did a lot of cards, and wrote a lot of inspiring words to them."
Principal Feralda sums up Matthew this way: "We should remember his name, Mathew Pereda. He's going to do great things."