For the second year in a row, Kohl's Department Stores has given the nod to DCPS’ student Victoria Osjah Leigh Castro, Osjah for short, from
Mandarin Middle, as one of the 2011 Kohl's Kids Who Care award winners. Osjah enjoys dancing, singing, playing guitar and shopping, and has appeared in shows like The Disney Channel Games, America's Most Wanted and America's Funniest Videos. What sets her apart from other students is her dedication to making a difference in her community.
By the time she entered the sixth-grade gifted program at Mandarin Middle School, Osjah had already managed to log thousands of volunteer hours on projects ranging from The Food Bank, children confined to hospital wards, the elderly and animals. She's even started her own group which she calls Osjah's Wish and has a Facebook page to chronicle their efforts.
This past year Osjah decided to adopt a lower income elementary school. She chose Timucuan Elementary School because a friend of her grandmother is a teacher there and told her about its needs. Osjah quickly put together a welcome back breakfast for the teachers and staff partnering with Starbucks/Chartwells on UNF campus who provided coffee, tea, pastries and muffins for the roughly 90 employees.
Her next project was partnering with all of the Starbucks stores in the Jacksonville area to collect school supplies and backpacks to help the students of Timucuan get all of the supplies they needed to be successful. Osjah also set up a drive for jackets, coats and socks, and delivered several boxes to the school just in time for the cold weather.
Osjah also organized for Ericka Dunlap, Miss America 2004 and a finalist on the hit show The Amazing Race, to visit Timucuan and meet with the fourth and fifth-graders to encourage them to work hard and take pride in their studies. Ms. Dunlap promised to return for a pizza party if the students scored well on their FCATs. She lived up to her promise and returned with 20 pizzas and NY Jets football player, Richard Taylor. Ms. Dunlap and Mr. Taylor reaffirmed the importance of a good education and signed autographs for every student in attendance.
Another project Osjah organized was the
Cupcake Rodeo and I Gave a Shirt Off My Back Silent Auction that was held at Timucuan Elementary back in April. She recruited four bakeries including Hey Cupcake!, Baked from The Heart, Cinotti's Bakery and Judy's Cakes. She set up entertainment and then started writing letters for shirts to be donated.
Osjah's brother Landon Castro, a student at Mandarin High, is also committed to volunteering as he was a state winner in the Subway High School Heroes contest.
"It's almost a competition with ourselves to see if we can outdo what we did the year before and we LOVE it," said Landon.
Osjah said that her biggest reward though is the feeling she gets inside knowing she is making a difference and showing people that even a little kid can change the world.
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