THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 14, 1995 TAG: 9504130044
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LESLIE BLANCHARD, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
HOW WOULD YOU FEEL if your little brother showed up at school?
Well, lots of Nansemond River High students who have classes with 12-year-old William Bott experience something like that every school day.
Classified as an eighth-grader, William takes three classes at Nansemond River High each day - algebra I, Earth science and Spanish II. Then a Nansemond River High School driver's ed instructor takes him to John Yeates Middle School. There he takes eighth-grade literature and gym, seventh-grade history and a sixth-grade exploratory class.
William, the youngest student in his high school, loves to read ``Hardy Boys'' and ``Encyclopedia Brown'' books. He collects stamps, coins, minerals, gems and baseball cards. His favorite sport is eight ball. William enjoys watching The Learning Channel, ``especially that scientific show.''
He lives with his parents, Carrie and David Bott, his 7-year-old sister, Jessica, and his 6-year-old brother, David. Both siblings attend Driver Elementary School.
Although William won't graduate from high school until 1999 (at age 16), he has already made up his mind about his career. He wants to be a lawyer, but he'd like to major in mathematics and ``spelling'' in college.
Why spelling?
William, an award-winning speller in elementary school, said spelling is important to succeed in any career. ``It has always been my favorite subject,'' he said. ``I don't study spelling anymore because I know how to spell about every word I need to know.''
William has skipped most of the sixth and seventh grades, and he says that has helped him ``see what it's going to take when I grow up. It's not easy at all.''
Skipping grades has helped him improve academically, he said, but there is a down side. William got lost on his first day of high school, and he had no friends to show him around.
``I miss my old friends, but now I'm getting new friends and more challenging work,'' he said. ``So far, I'm headed for honor roll.''
William has not taken the SAT yet, but he had a 13-1 grade equivalency last year on parts of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. That means he scored as well as a college freshman would have scored on the same test.
``I believe that I have more book sense than common sense,'' he said. ``Sometimes I don't know really obvious things, which are expected. Sometimes I get in a rush and don't really think about what I'm supposed to be doing, so I mess up.''
While William has friends in both of his schools, some of his high school classmates think he is too smart. Freshman Tracey Duncan agrees. ``One time I asked him his age, and he gave me a math problem to figure it out,'' she said.
At home, William's parents do not push him to do more than he feels comfortable doing. ``It's their duty to help me, not force me,'' William said.
William admires his parents, but there is someone who tops them - God. He is not outspoken about his Christian beliefs, but ``they do take a great part in guiding me,'' he said. When did his parents notice that he was advanced?
``In kindergarten,'' William said, ``I memorized the pattern of flash cards, so I always came out on top.''
He was a natural at most things, he said, ``except coloring. I wasn't very good at that, so I practiced. And practiced. And practiced. Now I'm as good as anyone.'' MEMO: Leslie Blanchard is a junior at Nansemond River High School. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Michael Kestner, Staff
William Bott...
Color photo
Leslie Blanchard is a junior at Nansemond River High School
by CNB