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Monday, October 23, 2000

Student's hunger to learn earns him scholarship
South Texas Distinguished Scholar Charles Roberts is known as a team player, one others can turn to
By Stephanie L. Jordan
Caller-Times

Paul Iverson/Caller-Times

Flour Bluff High School senior Charles Roberts, a Caller-Times South Texas Distinguished Scholar in science, is shown in the school's physics lab.

Charles Roberts craved learning so much that his mother had to rein him in when he hit junior high school.
   "He wanted to go to school early and stay late to study," his mother said. "He would have gotten up at 5 a.m. if I'd let him. I joke and call him my little genius. When I was taking college algebra he helped me."
   At 17, Charles, son of Alice and Charles Roberts, is still that driven. His first choice for college will be Harvard University. After that, the Caller-Times South Texas Distinguished Scholar in science would like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale or California Institute of Technology.
   Charles, who plans on majoring in biological engineering, ranks 16th in his class of 357 students at Flour Bluff High School and has a grade average of 90.91 or 98.39 when honors classes are factored in.
   He has been competing in academic competitions since the seventh grade, the year he began taking honors high school algebra.
   He enjoys competition and belonging to a team, whether it is academic or athletic. Once when he was injured, he still attended football practice even though he didn't have to.
   "He went out there in the heat every day and I asked him why he did that," his mother said. "He said, 'Because I'm a team member and that's what teams are about.' "
   His commitment in the classroom is no less. At the state Academic Decathlon as a high school junior, he won first place in mathematics, second in essay and third in social science and earned the highest overall score. As a sophomore and junior he was recognized by the State Board of Education as part of the Celebration of Educational Excellence.
   Although he excels in science, Charles likes all of his subjects.
   "I like science because I can get an in-depth look at how things work," he said. "I want to be a professor because (in the private sector) you don't really make a difference in people's lives. I want to be there to help people learn that there's more to science than the yearly science fairs."
   Charles, who got a perfect score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, concentrates on helping others, said Beth Huckabee, one of his teachers.
   When some students were confused in the decathlon, he took it upon himself to do teaching sessions.
   "He's always for the good of the team and that's rare because these students are competing for individual honors," Huckabee said. "Kids go to him. He's the one the kids corral to get help."


Staff writer Stephanie L. Jordan can be reached at 886-3724 or by e-mail at jordans@caller.com

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