This week's Whiz Kid is on a mission to help clean up the Mill Pond.

Skye Lovell, who was awarded the Be Kind Award in fifth grade, and is currently a sixth grade Student Council member, grew up in the neighborhood directly bordering the Mill Pond and the Peabody Institute Library.

Her earliest, and best memories are the ones she has of her time at the water's edge.  

"Skye wrote about the Mill Pond last year in her language arts class," mom Evelyn Lovell explained. "She said that the she knew the pond's secrets and it knew hers."

Following the huge construction to the Hobart Street area this summer, Skye was disheartened at the sight of the pond filled with garbage. She said there were old tires, shopping carts, and trash revealing itself in the hot summer sun-and Skye was horrified.

"She told me she was sad for the turtles, that they had to live in the filth," Lovell said.

That was when Skye sprang into action, by writing a letter to Town Hall, and creating a petition, that will be sent to town officials this week.  In her letter she tried to impress her genuine feelings for her special place.  

"I am eleven years old and I have lived next to the Mill Pond my whole life. That means I’ve seen all of the things that belong to the pond, and all the things that don’t. I love that pond; I go down there almost every day, and almost every day there is something new to find. When I bring my friends down there though, they look at it as a dumpster. They find it disgusting! They can’t see the beauty of it. So one day my cousin and I decided to try and change that."

Donning gloves and using sticks, Skye and her cousin headed over to the pond to try to rectify the matter on their own. They dug out 20 bottles and 10 baseballs on the first attempt, only to return the next day and see more debris.  That was when Skye decided it was time to ask for help, and while doing so pointed out, "You guys are putting fountains and rocks to try to make it look pretty, but don’t you think it should at least be clean?"

"All I want is for the town to know that people care, and want this to stop.  I’m hoping that maybe they will go and clean it.  I’m not asking them to scrub every little rock, I just want to get all the big things out, like tires and shopping carts. They don’t need to be in there," Skye Lovell said.

Whiz Kid's Name: Skye Janice Lovell

Whiz Kid’s Age: 12 years old

Whiz Kid’s School and Grade: Holten Richmond Middle School- 6th grade

Whiz Kid’s Accomplishment:  Spearheading a Mill Pond Clean-Up Project

Whiz Kid's Advise To Others: "All I want is the town to know that people care. I want this to stop." ~ Skye Lovell