Sofia Maciejewski
2022 Amazing Kids - Sherwood
School: Sherwood High School
Hometown: Sherwood
WHY SHE IS AMAZING: Sofia is on a mission to stand up for her fellow citizens and make the world a better place.
PROUDLY SPONSORED BY:
SHERWOOD STUDENT EYES A LAW CAREER
With all of the activities Sofia Maciejewski is involved with at Sherwood High School, it’s hard to imagine that she has any time to focus on homework.
Maciejewski, a junior at the high school, has always lived in Sherwood. As a youngster, she was heavily involved in sports, having played soccer, basketball and tennis. Her mission these days is to stand up for her fellow citizens and make the world a better place.
“I was really big into sports, but I was also a really big reader, so when I got into middle school, I started taking an interest in politics,” Maciejewski said. “Taking social studies classes, and everything like that, politics and activism just really interested me.”
Maciejewski has been involved in the annual Bowmen Pageant to help Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
“Teams of seniors get into teams of two and they compete to raise as much money as they can for Doernbecher,” she said. “I was the one, kind of backstage, organizing and helping with fundraising. That was super awesome. We ended up raising over $30,000, I think, for Doernbecher, which was super-awesome.”
Maciejewski, who has been on the student council for the past three years, is also the founder and president of a club known as Women and Politics at Sherwood High School.
“I got the idea one day just going through Instagram. I was seeing all these female congressional candidates and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it would be so cool to have a club that you could talk about politics,’” Maciejewski said, noting there are about 40 members in the club, which started in January with the assistance of her friend and student, Jessica Brannen.
Maciejewski is also part of the Campaign for Non Violence Youth Collective, a national organization.
“There’s this big parent organization that we are a branch of, it’s called Pace E Bene, a big collection of people from all over the world just advocating for peace and non-violence,” Maciejewski said. “I applied and got accepted into their youth program, which is super awesome.”
Maciejewski continued, “I have to get on Zoom calls about twice a month and we just organize different non-violent actions to take to take to help people in our community.”
Maciejewski has also taken advantage of technology by launching a Super Fan app, which lets you track points if you go to games and includes a leaderboard.
“We worked with a developer that already runs it for other schools,” she said. “It’s just another way to promote school spirit and get our school really involved.”
The Sherwood Area Chamber of Commerce recently named Maciejewski its “Outstanding Youth.”
“That was super-awesome, that was a great experience,” Maciejewski said. “I was so honored. The other girls that got nominated, too, are amazing. To get to win that award, it was just an awesome experience.”
As to plans after high school, Maciejewski is looking at colleges on the East Coast.
“I want to get a degree in political science and a minor in women’s studies, then hopefully go to law school after that,” she said. “My dream goal is to be in Congress one day, but on the more realistic side of things, I definitely want to be a lawyer.”
She added, “I just really want to make sure that I leave this world a better place.”