Patch Whiz Kid: Timothy Parker

Name: Timothy Parker

Age: 17.

School:

Accomplishment: Timothy is a semifinalist in the 2012 National Achievement Scholarship program. Timothy, who is a senior at Braden River High School, is enrolled in five AP classes this semester and one honors class. He is involved with the Future Business Leaders of America, the senior advisory board, Braden River High's academic team, the schools literary magazine and with the Technology Students Association. His first choice for college is MIT, but he is also applying to Harvard, Yale, University of Florida, Vanderbilt and the University of Chicago. Wherever he goes, he wants to major in business and minor in English. Ultimately he would like to start a business that allows him to pursue his passion for writing: maybe start his own publishing firm. He is among 1,600 semifinalists chosen from more than 160,000 students nationwide to be selected as an Achievement Scholarship Semifinalist. The National Achievement Scholarship Program was conceived in 1964 to recognize academically promising black students.  Timothy and the other semifinalists are eligible to compete for more than $2.4 million in National Achievement Scholarships to be awarded in the spring of 2012. Timothy moved from Mochigan to Bradenton with his family in 2009 and said that Braden River immediately offered him a better learning environment and a more challenging curriculum. As a sophomore he enrolled in AP World History. "I like challenging myslef," Timothy said. "I was able to do that at Braden River."

Key to awesomeness: Braden River High School's Assistant Principal Don French says Timothy is just "a great kid." He's competitive and he pushes himself. He chooses to take the most challenging classes.

Want to nominate a Patch Whiz Kid? Send name, age, info and a JPG photo to toni.whitt@patch.com.