Three 12-year-olds from Jackson excel in college math

Heads below the crowd, 12-year-olds Gabe Eggers, Daniel Hooks and John Free have made their way this summer to math classes amid a sea of college students at Southeast Missouri State University.

They typically find seats together near the front of classrooms, ignoring the questioning looks on their older classmates' faces, as they open their backpacks to retrieve their college algebra books.

Now seven weeks into a summer math course, the three 12-year-old Jackson Middle School students have adjusted to the college routine and the disbelief of older students.

"At first we were like, college? College is big, college is high up," Gabe said. "We tried to talk ourselves out of it, but then we just went for it."

Through the university's early college credit program, the boys enrolled in the summer algebra class and will receive college credit if they pass. So far, they're averaging A's and B's on assignments and tests.

Chris Seyer, an associate registrar at Southeast who works with students in the early credit program, said it's becoming more popular. "We usually have from two to five young students every year now, and they tend to get very good grades."

Seyer said students in the program are allowed to take classes at half the normal tuition rate, a big incentive.

Despite the boys' inhibitions about entering college at such a young age, Gabe, Daniel and John quickly discovered that the class wasn't so different from the work they were already doing in Math Counts, a national math coaching and competition program for middle school students that the three began participating in last summer.

Avalina Lichtenegger, an instructor at Southeast, has served as their Math Counts coach and tutor since that time.

In a renovated garage behind Lichtenegger's home, the boys gather two to three times a week during the regular school year for tutoring.

As part of Math Counts, the three participate in an annual math regional competition. As the competition approaches, the boys attend the tutoring sessions five days a week in preparation.

Last year, it was held in Sikeston, and the boys placed fourth as a team. Gabe placed fifth individually and advanced to the state competition in Columbia, Mo.

The boys are all hoping to make it to the national competition in Washington, D.C., this year, and are already preparing for the first regional-level competition in February.

Gabe and John will both be in seventh grade next year at Jackson Middle School, but Daniel, who skipped fourth grade, will be in eighth grade at R.O. Hawkins Junior High.

It was Lichtenegger's idea for the boys to take college algebra. She hopes it will convince school officials that the students are above what is being taught in the regular classroom.

"How can the school put these students in pre-algebra next year when they've made A's in college algebra and trigonometry?" Lichtenegger said. "They'd be crazy. But teachers and administrators look at me like I have three eyes when I tell them what these students can do."

Not only are the boys taking college algebra, Gabe is also taking trigonometry at Southeast, and all three have been tutoring college students in math for the past year.

"Some of my classmates thought I was a really short freshman," Gabe said.

Peer impressions

College students say they are impressed with the boys' abilities.

"It's intimidating. Sometimes they understand it quicker than I do," said William Washington, a 19-year-old freshman from St. Louis. "The class is pretty hard, and they don't get any special treatment."

Washington added that it's nice to see the "younger generation" doing its homework.

The boys' parents say they are excited about the opportunity to earn college credit.

"My school administrators have told me I'm pushing Daniel too hard, that he will eventually hate math," said Priscilla Hooks. "He hates math now because he isn't being challenged. The college class has been great for all of the boys."

Jackson School District officials say exceptions can be made for students who demonstrate uncommon abilities in a particular subject.

Superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson said the district will take the boys' college algebra scores into consideration before placing them in a math class next year.

"There are students who are atypical, and it's my philosophy to try to accomodate them and meet their needs," Anderson said.

Despite their maturity in math, the preteens' adolescence surfaces when the subject of college "chicks" is broached.

Goofy grins and blushes spread across the boys' faces as John recounts his first day of class, when an attractive female classmate spoke to him.

"She said I looked lonely," he said. "I didn't think I looked lonely."

There are several similarities between the boys. All wear glasses. None has siblings. All enjoy science fiction books and movies. And all three said they knew at a young age they were gifted in math.

The three have passions outside of math -- reading, sports, video games and Star Wars. For the summer, they attend college in the morning and study at Lichtenegger's house for three to five hours before going home.

Giving up the usual summer fun in exchange for quadratic equations and square roots wasn't a difficult decision for them.

"It's the only time we get to do this stuff," Daniel said. "We're stuck doing boring stuff in school. It isn't challenging for us. This is."

cclark@semissourian.com

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