Super Students
Saturday, February 21, 1998Name: Aiko Yamashiro
Age: 12
School: King Intermediate School
Favorite subject: English
Pastimes: Ukulele, reading, writing, drawing, video games
Failure is not an option for Aiko Yamashiro. Giving it '110 percent'
Each situation is either win or lose ---- there is no in-between.
"I don't believe in failure," she said. But to this seventh grader, a 4.0 GPA student, failure is scoring anything less than an A in school.
"I just want to do really good. I don't like to fail," she said. "I set high goals for myself -- sometimes they're too high."
But these goals have helped Yamashiro realize a few successes. Her classes are all at the challenging Gifted and Talented (GT) level, where she excels, said GT English teacher Mary Reilley.
"Aiko is a ... truly gifted kid, one of the brightest students I've ever had. Everything she does is 110 percent."
Chosen to take the Johns Hopkins Talent Search exam (akin to the SAT test) usually reserved for high school seniors, Yamashiro scored a high of 1170 out of a possible 1600, making Reilley reevaluate her teaching methods. "I worry about whether I'm meeting her needs," she said. "But if she was bored, she'd never tell me."
But life and success aren't limited to academics, according to Yamashiro, who expressed an affinity for the unknown. "It seems a better choice to try something new and broaden my experiences," she said.
"She's very highly motivated. She can do anything," Reilley said.
Kimberly Fu, Star-Bulletin
