Waniesha Cunningham:
Hello, I am Waniesha Cunningham, I am 16 years old and a junior in high school. I was lead to the VIDA Program by my mother because I was disrespectful, and was getting poor grades. I have been in the program for four weeks now and I have learned a lot of new things about behavior, respect, responsibility, discipline and accountability. When I learned about the deputies building a motorcycle and getting ready to race it I was excited. I was excited most about the opportunity to write articles for a magazine. It was a chance to do something most kids would never get to do. I never thought I would be picked because there were so many other people being interviewed. The interview was very challenging because I got real nervous, and didn't know if I did well and how I compared to the others. I also went first so I really didn't know what to expect. When the deputies started interviewing me I just acted like myself. Obviously it went well.
Waniesha and Joseph at wo...
Waniesha and Joseph at work.
When the Deputies told us who the winners were, I was so happy because I knew my mom would be very proud. I couldn't believe I had been chosen from all the other kids. I didn't know what to expect when I went to the Sheriff's Academy to build the motorcycle. Building the motorcycle was a very fun experience for me. I had so much fun unscrewing screws and screwing things back on the bike. Taking apart the carburetor was the hardest thing to do because if we did something wrong the bike wouldn't run at all. I learned a lot about motorcycles and how they are built. I expected a lot more parts to need to be put together, but the motorcycle came out of the crate mostly assembled. I learned a lot about teamwork from working with the Deputies on this project and I am looking forward to learning more about motorcycles and the torture test.