Christian Wells and his dad, Aaron, at Wrigley Field last April. They had time to catch a game after filming commercials and participating in the photo shoot. Photo contributed by Michelle Wells Rosewood rising fourth grader Christian Wells is just an ordinary kid, but thanks to Frosted Flakes, he is going on an extraordinary ride.

Wells, a nine–year old Trenholm Park little league baseball player, was told in February about a contest sponsored by Frosted Flakes for the 2010 Youth Achievement Awards. His mother, Michelle, said her son, who was eight at the time, got on the website, www.frostedflakes.com, explored it a little, and then decided to take a stab at the 350–word essay to enter the contest.

“He wrote the kind of essay you would expect from a third grader, but nothing especially articulate,” she said of her son’s efforts. “The only thing he asked me to do for him was send in a picture.”

The entry, which parents Michelle and Aaron never read, was forgotten until April when a certified letter came to Christian informing him that he was one of six semifinalists up for a chance to go to the ESPN awards in Los Angeles, receive $4,500 for his home park, and attend a breakfast for up to 400 friends with Tony the Tiger. She is still perplexed about how it all happened.

“I mean, who wins these contests?” Michelle said. “From what I saw on the website, it was just a lot of kids that were just like Christian, all good, ordinary kids. Why he got picked from hundreds and thousands of entries, I don’t know.”

What the six finalists got to do, and will be doing, is extra special. They have already been flown to Chicago for a photo shoot and commercial with lots of time left for sightseeing. The profiles of all six are now online at www.frosted flakes.com, and visitors can review little tidbits of information about each contestant and vote once a day for their favorite.

Christian’s profile talks about his love for all things baseball, saying, “I love hitting home runs, making good friends, and playing catcher,” and “Outside of practice, I play catch with my dad to get better at catching and throwing.”

In July, the semifinalists will go to an ESPN breakfast and dinner, and the eventual grand prize winner will attend the celebrity–packed ESPY awards ceremony.

Michelle said her son is particularly excited about the chance to fix up Trenholm Park, which is in desperate need of repairs.

“He won’t get any money from this whole thing, but if he wins, the $4,500 will be used to buy a new scoreboard for the majors field, which is very much needed,” Michelle said.

The irony of this whole saga? Although he was never asked, Frosted Flakes happens to be Christian’s favorite cereal.

“Until we got to Chicago, it was never discussed,” she said. “But Frosted Flakes and Life are the only cereals he will eat.”

Online voting at www.frostedflakes.com ends June 22. Visitors to the site are limited to one selection a day.