Student math guru to hold camp for children

SPENCERVILLE - It doesn't take much to make Heather Smith feel good: Just a little math.

"I love math. I get a math high," the Spencerville High School senior said.

Always an overachiever when it comes to math, Heather now finds enjoyment in helping others conquer it.

"It makes me really happy to see how everything just clicks," she said of tutoring an eighth-grade family friend. "Especially with math. I know that feeling. I'm glad someone else can feel it."

Heather likes teaching so much she's planning a math camp for elementary school pupils Aug. 4 to 6 at the Spencerville Library. For information, e-mail kmsmith@ohiolink.net.

For as long as she can remember, Heather's classmates have been coming to her for math help. The key to her success, she says, is her ability to explain things.

"As the teacher does problems on the board, I can also help them in a different way," she said. "I feel like I have been given a gift by God, so why not use it."

With a Honda Math Award under her belt and preparing to tackle calculus at Spencerville next year, Heather is anxious to become a high school math teacher. She plans to attend Wright State University.

A member of the National Honor Society with a 4.0 grade-point average, Heather is in line to earn scholarships to Wright State. She is ranked first in her class.

Heather is active at school. She's a varsity basketball cheerleader and is a member of the marching band's flag corps. She recently returned from flag camp and has two cheerleading camps this summer. Heather plays the euphonium in the concert, pep and jazz bands and sings in the choir and Varsity Singers. She's vice president of the choir, and has also been in the District Band and in school musicals.

Heather is on Spencerville's Quiz Bowl team and will be secretary this year of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She used to be in the Westside 4-H Club.

She volunteers in the pharmacy department at St. Rita's Medical Center. It's her second year of helping out at the hospital, doing it at first to see if she wanted to major in medicine.

"I found out that I wanted to go in the math direction," she said. "But it's still fun to volunteer at St. Rita's."