Super Students
Saturday, October 25, 1997
Name: David Ormsbee
Age: 17
School: Nanakuli High and Intermediate School
Favorite subject: Computers
Future: Computer programmer
While many students rebel against going to school every day, David Ormsbee revels in it. A student who's a teacher
Probably because he is also a teacher.
Ormsbee was recruited by Nanakuli High and Intermediate School Principal Bruce Naguwa to teach "Introduction to Computer Science" upon returning from his eight-week summer sojourn at Harvard University, where the senior had honed his computer programming skills.
"It was a heavy expense," said Ormsbee, whose dad, math teacher Ivan, and mom, librarian Sarah, kicked in much of the $6,000 or $7,000 cost. "But I had fun!"
Naguwa described the class as "very neat -- students teaching students." He said he wants Ormsbee's passion for computers passed on.
Ormsbee and his two teaching partners created their own curriculum for the class. "The students are great," he said, adding that he worries about teaching them the wrong thing. "We tried to squeeze everything we've learned since the seventh grade into (the class). I don't think that's working."
After his graduation in 1998, Ormsbee said he envisions a future at Harvard. Or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Or CalTech.
"Harvard's getting more funds -- a huge grant from Bill Gates," said Ormsbee, adding that Harvard is building a computer science building and expanding course offerings in that field. "It'll be fun to get in there when everything hits the fan."
Kimberly Fu, Star-Bulletin
