U4 Unit Wrap Blast: Teenage Heroes

Background

In this unit, you've learned about all kinds of heroes, from superheroes to scientists. But not every

hero needs an advanced degree or super strength to change the world. Some heroes are just ordinary
people—even kids!—with lots of determination.

Albert Manero, an aerospace engineering student at the University of Central Florida, is a hero,

especially to one 6-year-old boy. The boy, Alex Pring, was born with only one arm. He is missing his
second arm just above the elbow. Prosthetics for children are more difficult and expensive to make than
adult prosthetics because the components are smaller. Alex Pring’s insurance company would not
cover the cost of a prosthetic, because Alex would outgrow it quickly and need to have it replaced.

Albert Manero was a member of a group of volunteer engineers, students, inventors, and others

who work to help fit people with innovative prosthetics. When he learned about Alex Pring, it seemed
like a challenge he wanted to take on. With some of his engineering friends, Manero was able to
develop a “bionic” arm that Alex could control using the muscles in his upper arm. Using 3D printing
technology, the cost of the prosthetic was under $350!

Background

Another example of a teenage hero is a 12-year-old girl from Connecticut named Anna Murphy.

Anna’s family often struggled to pay their heating bill, but even so, they collected pennies in a jar to
help pay for another struggling family’s heating bill each Christmas. This inspired Anna to create
Warming Families Makes Cents, a charity that raises money to help financially strapped families pay their
household heating costs. Anna was a winner of the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, a prize given
every year to 25 people under the age of 18.

The fact that there have been 25 winners of the Gloria Barron Prize every year since 2000 shows

that you don’t need to be over 18 to change the world. Who are some other young heroes you’ve
heard about? What have their contributions been? How can young people become heroes?