Whiz Kid: Patrick Fleischer

While Memorial Day weekend is noted by most to be the unofficial beginning of a hot and lazy summer, Patrick Fleischer, a fourth-grader at , was hard at work in Maryland as a member of the city's Odyssey of the Mind team, which earned a place in the world finals.

Shortly after his trip to Maryland, Fleischer is turning his attention towards delivering what he hopes will be a nearly flawless Irish dance performance with his fellow classmates at the . Fleischer spoke with Patch about his trip to Maryland, how he's preparing for his upcoming recital and his big plans for the summer.

Patch: Hi Patrick! So you just took a trip to Maryland with your fellow Odyssey of the Mind teammates. How did it go?

Fleischer: It was a lot of fun. We left on a Friday before Memorial Day weekend and got to Maryland at around dinnertime. We went to the opening ceremony and then, the next day, we were supposed to go to DC, but somebody on the team hurt his knee so we had wait. But we did make it to DC finally and we had fun. The next day was our spontaneous [competition] and we then we did some pin trading with other kids. On Monday, we had our long-term problem and then the awards ceremony.

Patch: And your team placed 18th out 52 teams in your division. How did that feel?

Fleischer: We thought that was really good since it was our first time at the world finals. We were really excited.

Patch: And you also have a dance recital coming up, right? What kind of classes do you take?

Fleischer: I take Irish dance classes at the Pender-Keady Academy of Irish Dancing once a week. The recital is on Sunday. We're dancing to a slip jig and our teacher has been teaching us how to do the dance for the past two months. I'm a little bit nervous.

Patch: Let's talk about school. What are some of your favorite subjects and why?

Fleischer: I like gym, reading, writing, media, math and science. At the beginning of the year in science, we had to make cars out of Kinect [building toys] and my partner and I had to do all of these different tests with it. The one we built was cool and good at working.

Patch: And what do you like about music class?

Fleischer: This year, we learned how to do African drumming and we learned how to use all sorts of different instruments like the xylophone. We had our spring concert [recently] and the theme was songs from movies. I was one of the speakers for that and it was just a lot of fun learning the songs and watching the clips from the movies.

Patch: So what do you have planned for the summer? I know you must be glad that there's only one week of school left.

Fleischer: This summer, my family is going on a lot of vacations. We're going to New Jersey for a week and we're also going on a cruise. As soon as the school year is over, we're going to Cape Cod. I'm also going to Boston and Six Flags with my aunt and uncle.

Patch: And what part of going to fifth grade in the fall are you looking forward to the most?

Fleischer: In fifth grade you get to go on a trip to Philadelphia for the day and you get to be in the winter concert. I'm excited about that.

Patch: Have you've been to Philadelphia before?

Fleischer: Yes, my dad's side of the family goes on these historical trips every year. We've been to New York, Philadelphia and Gettysburg.

Patch: And what do you think you'd like to do when you're done with school?

Fleischer: I would like to be an actor. I love movies — comedy and action.

Patch: And which actors do you like watch?

Fleischer: I like Johnny Depp and Jim Carrey.