Hey Barack! Grade 9 student invites former president to her after-school program

A Halifax teen has sent a special invitation to her role model, Barack Obama, who's visiting the city next month.

Eve Wedderburn, a Grade 9 student at Oxford Junior High School, posted a video on Twitter asking the former U.S. president to join her on a tour of her after-school program. 

"Of course your whole family can come on this tour because I have a lot of knowledge to share and I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others and collecting knowledge from others," Wedderburn said in her video, which has more than 5,500 views. 

Wedderburn joined Imhotep's Legacy Academy's after-school program three years ago.

The academy works with black Nova Scotian students in grades six to 12 in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math. It also offers scholarships for students to attend Dalhousie University. 

The students cover everything from how to make slime to mathematical equations, Wedderburn said. 

"I know education is very important to him, so I thought that kind of pointing this out to him would definitely, like, grab his attention," Wedderburn told CBC's Information Morning. 

She said she wants to show off the benefits of Imhotep's Legacy Academy, which has helped her excel in science and math at school. 

"So by the time those units rolled around, I was like already an expert on them and they always helped prepare me for what was coming," she said.

Wedderburn has been following Obama's career ever since her parents told her he was the first black president of the United States. 

Obama is speaking at the Scotiabank Centre on Nov. 13 for an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council.

"I admire his integrity and his passion and his drive to just do something good," Wedderburn said. 

She shares that drive, and is using it to prepare for a career in dentistry.

"When I was younger, and still now, I love going to the dentist, and seeing the process of my sister getting her braces on ... was very intriguing for me," she said.

Wedderburn hasn't heard back from Obama just yet, but she said even if she doesn't, she's happy she made the video. 

"I've got plenty of views and I'm very thankful for them because everybody who's supported me has been incredible and I really think that everybody cares," she said.

"It's very good for all the youth to understand that they can do anything and that anything is possible."

MORE TOP STORIES