Tarkington fifth grader named 2025 Wheeling Citizen of the Year

It’s safe to say that Maya S. has accomplished more in her 10 years on the planet than many people can claim in one lifetime.

Since she was five years old, the now fifth grader at Tarkington Elementary School has created a kindness project in conjunction with her birthday every year to assist the less fortunate in Wheeling and the surrounding communities. 

This includes collecting school supplies for needy kids in Wheeling Township; preparing snack boxes for children with cancer; creating birthday boxes containing candles, cake mix and sprinkles for local senior citizens; organizing a crayon and a board game drive for patients at Advocate Lutheran General Children’s Hospital; and, with the help of her father, building a small, free food pantry outside the Indian Trails Public Library that she continues to stock with non-perishable foods and hygiene products.

“[My ideas are] basically something that I think is important, or something that connects to me,” Maya said. “For my eighth birthday, when I did the crayon drive, I love art and wanted to help kids who were in the hospital so they could do something that was calming and take their mind off of being in the hospital…something that could help them feel like a kid for a little bit.”

It is this passion for making a difference that earned her the 2025 George Hieber Citizenship Award from the Village of Wheeling, the youngest person ever to receive the award.

Created in 2016, the annual award is named for longtime resident George Hieber for his many contributions to civic life throughout the village over a number of years and in a variety of capacities. Each year, the village board selects a resident—or a group or partnership of residents—to receive the award based on their significant contributions to the Wheeling community.

“Maya shows great compassion towards others and makes Wheeling a better, safer, and kinder place to live,” read the village proclamation recognizing her.

Receiving this commendation is not lost on the 10-year-old, who said she was “overflowing with pride and happiness.”

“It’s not even necessarily that I want the award or that I think about the recognition; I just love the feeling of knowing that I’ve helped someone,” Maya said. “Advocate has sent me so many letters of children’s art that they’ve drawn with crayons and the messages they’ve written, and they’re just so sweet. When you see what they’ve created and what they’ve said, you just have this feeling like, ‘wow, you did that. You helped make this happen.’ and it’s just so amazing.”

The support is also felt deep in the halls of Tarkington, as several staff members were in attendance at the village board meeting on Monday.

“I was thrilled for her,” said Dr. Joe Arduino, principal of Tarkington. “But I was also not surprised, because she’s always been helpful around school.”

He notes that Maya has been incredibly active in Tarkington’s service organization, Helping Paws, and can often be found volunteering for any task that may be needed around the school, including as a lunch volunteer or as a door holder: “She’s always been the first person to step up.”

Maya found her inspiration for making a difference from her parents, who at a young age taught her about the world and how others might have more or less than her.

“That just really started me on my journey,” added Maya, whose first project – collecting school supplies for needy kids around the township – was born from a trip with her mom to purchase school supplies for her kindergarten year in District 21.

“I asked my mom about those who aren’t able to get supplies, so we just started collecting and it kind of snowballed from there,” she said. “I just kept doing it every year and it kind of became a tradition.”

Maya is not sure of what her next project will be, but “has some ideas.” She’ll need to sit down with her parents and figure out what she really wants to do and what is achievable, “because my ideas are really big.”

The pursuit, however, is something she’d like to continue at London Middle School next year, and even as she ascends to high school and adulthood. 

As for others looking to fill her shoes, Maya’s advice is simple.

“It doesn’t have to be a big project, really,” she said. “It can be something small that just goes a long way. So just really do anything that you think is in your reach that you can do to the best of your abilities, and that’s amazing.”