Amanda McMichael
2021 Amazing Kids - Estacada
Age: 15
School: Estacada High School
Hometown: Estacada
WHY SHE IS AMAZING: Amanda uses her tech skills to help out the community and her nominator says she’s a quiet person that works hard for others behind the scenes.
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TECH WHIZ USES SKILLS FOR COMMUNITY
Amanda McMichael volunteers around her hometown of Estacada, often using her computer skills to assist the folks in the area.
“I really like helping the community,” the 15-year-old junior at Estacada High School says.
Ruth Patino, head of the math department and advisor to the National Honor Society at Estacada High School, says Amanda often flies under the radar.
“She is that quiet person that works hard for others behind the scenes,” Patino says.
Amanda is part of Estacada High School’s tech team and is recognized for her expertise.
“With others knowing that, it seems that Amanda gets asked quite often to volunteer to do tech things. For instance, “she helped during graduation last year with tech stuff and also helped earlier in graduation doing some volunteer stuff for NHS,” Patino says.
She helps out at school board meetings with tech support, working with and adjusting microphones and other equipment to ensure the board’s live broadcasts go off without a hitch.
Amanda also has lent her skills for high school registration and worked the live stream feed and the scoreboard at sporting events.
“She is very good at keeping her word and following through with things,” Patino says and notes that Amanda often helps her when she runs into a tech issue.
Amanda is not always behind a computer. She has worked with a nonprofit organization, Ant Farm, on town cleanup projects and a community garden at the local restaurant Harmony.
Amanda counts advanced placement psychology and math as her favorite classes in school.
“It’s intriguing to study why people do the things they do,” she says of her psychology class.
Amanda’s dad is a mechanical engineer and has always been a big help with her math and other homework. She figures that’s why she’s liked math since her early grades in school.
“He’s always been willing to help me,” she says. “So willing to help me.”
She boats a 3.57 grade-point average and plans on college after high school. But at 15 years old hasn’t decided on a field of study or potential career. But she says engineering and technology are both attractive.
“I’d like to stay in Oregon” for college, she says, wanting to stay connected to her family.
The family has lived in Estacada since Amanda was 5 years old. She has a 5-year-old sister.
She likes the “vibe of a small town. Everybody knows everybody.”
She enjoys the annual Summer Celebration, usually held during the fourth weekend in July.
When she’s not studying or helping out with her tech skills, Amanda likes to ski. She’s a member of the Snowriders ski club at Estacada High. “I like the outdoors,” she says.
She also enjoys baking and cooking.
Amanda says meeting people in Estacada is also a happy byproduct of volunteering.
She doesn’t have to look far afield to find people she admires.
“I definitely look up to my dad, and my mom,” she says.
“And there are a lot of teachers and people in the tech department that have inspired me,” she says. She takes her inspiration and uses it to help out in the community she is so fond of.
“It feels really good to help make a difference,” Amanda says.