Local student recognized for academic achievemnet
SPARTA Mycroft Zimmerman of Sparta was honored for his academic achievement by the John Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY) in a special awards ceremony on Oct. 23 at Seton Hall University. Zimmerman is 14 years old and an eighth grader at the Gil St. Bernards School in Gladstone, who for the past few years has scored on the high school level on standardized tests. Participants in the CTY Talent Search are “identified and assessed for their exceptional mathematical and verbal reasoning abilities.” About 200 students from New Jersey participated and received awards. Furthermore, they qualify into accelerated learning programs in various colleges and universities. “I had taken the S.A.T. once and did way above my grade average which led me to the Hopkins level courses. Its hard work, but I enjoy the challenge and the fabulous opportunity that I have had for the past few summers,” said Zimmerman. Because of his efforts, Zimmerman has attended CTY special summer programs at Mount Holyoke, Moravia and more recently Skidmore University where he has excelled. He is fluent in three computer languages. “I like going to the summer programs. I take classes that I could not do in school and I meet other kids from all over, he said.” It’s wonderful to receive an award. I didn’t think it was a big deal, but I was very proud of myself.” In addition to his academic interest, Zimmerman plays hockey, sails, cross-country running and has a brown belt in Tae Kwan Do. His other passion is the arts. He has been playing piano for ten years and is presently preparing for a role in his school’s production of "Schoolhouse Rock Jr." With a diversity of talent and interests, Zimmerman has no idea what the future holds: “Life is life and you really never know. I keep an open spectrum and try to test out and see what is sun. I would like to experiment more before deciding what direction I am headed in.” Zimmerman is aptly named Mycroft after the fictional Sherlock Holmes’ older brother who is known to be smarter and wiser.