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Schools

Meet Whiz Kid: Maxim Earl Waterhouse

Decatur student stands tall among peers, despite short stature.

Name: Maxim Earl Waterhouse, 16

School: Decatur High School

Accomplishments: This young leader serves 3,000 members as vice president of SkillsUSA in Region 3 of Georgia. The national, student-run organization is a partnership of teachers, high school and college students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service and health occupations.

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Nationwide there are 316,000 members and 10,024 in the state of Georgia.

“I can sum up Max in one word: ‘fearless,’ ” said Gayle Silvey, state director SkillsUSA, Georgia.  “I have witnessed Max speak to a group of 100 of his peers during a dinner banquet and then teach leadership classes to more than 300 students in a day.

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“More than anything though, I think it is his upbeat attitude and positive outlook that naturally draw people to Max,” Silvey said.

Max, who is four feet, four inches tall and a member of Little People of America (LPA), is popular with his classmates and was elected vice president of the sophomore class.

He is on the school wrestling team and participates in the Dwarf Athletic Association of America National Games. Last summer in Anaheim, California he won silver medals in the 100-meter dash and the 4 X 100.

He also has two minor roles in the upcoming musical “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” at Decatur High School.

Max enjoys being active and helping people and takes his height in stride.

“I joke around and don’t get offended or worry about what other people think of me,” Max said.

 “He’s extremely resilient and doesn’t let his size affect what he does,” said his dad Jon Waterhouse.

Jon and his wife Andrea adopted Max at the age of 5 from an orphanage in Perm, Russia, after working through LPA’s adoption committee that links prospective parents and adoption agencies representing short-statured
children.

 “My wife and I had always said if we had a little boy we’d name him Max,” Jon said. When searching the LPA site, he came upon a 5-year-old named Max who was born on the day he proposed to his wife.

“We thought about it, prayed about it and talked about it,” Waterhouse said.

In September of 2000 they adopted Max.

Jon, a writer who covers pop culture, said he became interested in LPA when he met Joy Campbell-McKenzie, an actress known for her work in H.R. Pufnstuf, who was in Atlanta for a national LPA conference.

“There are some great role models in the organization,” Jon said. “Max has met people like him that are doctors and actors and professionals living active, normal lives. We’ve never told him there isn’t anything he can’t do. He’s very comfortable in his own skin.”

“I enjoy politics, meeting new people and being out in the community,”  Max said.

For the future he’s considering several career directions including law, mechanical engineering and working as a youth leader.

 

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