Williamsport Area School District

WILLIAMSPORT AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT

GREG L. HAYES (570) 327-5500 ext. 33495 DIRECTOR of PUBLIC RELATIONS FAX: (570) 326-5237 2780 West Fourth Street Williamsport, PA 17701 [email protected]

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NOVEMBER STUDENT PROFILE: WILLIAM KNAUTH

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (NOVEMBER 1, 2012) — Probably one of the first things most people would tell you about any interaction they have with William Knauth is his charming personality and passion to see and experience the world — that, and his affinity for golf.

At just 13 years old, the eighth-grade Curtin Middle School student has an ability to speak casually on nearly any subject with a precocious analysis and an enthusiastic, professional delivery that both defies his age and size.

However, that should be no surprise coming from a student whose academic resume boasts successes such as having joined the gifted program in third grade at Cochran Elementary

School, tested out of fourth-grade math, was taking Algebra 1 in fifth grade, and by sixth grade was in geometry.

Today, he’s taking trigonometry and pre-calculus online at the Eldred Street middle school, and, at the time he interviewed for this article in mid-October, Knauth said he just scored a 100 on one of those midterms.

If for nothing else, Knauth is in it for the challenge and the absorption of knowledge to quench a curiosity that’s apparent to anyone who encounters the teen.

1 As he sat down to interview for this article, he arrived in the main office from his English class, where he was about to recite Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” — not because it was his favorite poem, but because of the challenge presented in memorizing its 20 lines.

When asked about his thoughts on taking such high-ranking courses generally reserved for students well beyond the elementary and middle levels, he said he doesn’t believe it’s about how young or old a person is.

“It’s how well you understand it (the material),” Knauth said, and on further reflection added: “Maybe it’s just I thought more about it and passed the tests.”

Aside from academics, Knauth is involved in the Curtin orchestra and the Williamsport

Symphony Youth Orchestra as a violinist. He even noted his recent acquisition of an Italian crafted violin that he described as having a “refined, modern sound.”

He also is in Boy Scouts Group 12 at St. Luke Evangelical Lutheran Church and plays a lot of golf. In fact, he’s a three-year running Club Champion at White Deer Golf Course.

“Even though I’m small, I still out-drive people,” he added with a grin.

Tristin Forney, an eighth-grade math teacher at Curtin, taught a fifth-grade Knauth

Algebra 1 and has coached the student in the annual MATHCOUNTS competition all the way to the state level. (Knauth won states with his team in sixth grade and individually in seventh grade.)

Forney said Knauth is one of those rare students who comes into the classroom and

“blows you away academically and socially.”

“Will has the ability to critically analyze a situation and turn it into a learning experience,” Forney said. “I was recently talking to a group of students about an upcoming race I

2 was running. Mentally, and without delay, Will was able to give me a list of paces that I would need to run in order to finish my goal time.”

Teachers like Forney, Knauth said, are one of the reasons for his success as a student.

“There are some really great teachers here (in the district). They really know their stuff,” he said. Despite the tough material he’s worked and climbed his way up through in such a short span of years, Knauth remains modest with a simple, “I got lucky.”

“It’s a good district,” he added, commenting on what he describes as a district having

“great extracurricular” programs and a wide range of opportunities not found in the immediate area.

“William is a highly respected student who represents the Williamsport Area School

District and Curtin Middle School with much enthusiasm,” said Principal Brandon Pardoe. “His congenial personality and high academic achievement will take him far.”

As he looks forward to his high school years, Knauth is eyeing up the different sciences he’ll be able to take, the Advanced Placement courses and studying government — an area he’s found particularly intriguing in light of the presidential campaign.

“I found it really interesting listening to the debates,” he said. “As they got into the deeper levels of things, I discovered why some solutions can’t or won’t work.”

Despite having to balance his academics, the arts and athletics, Knauth is looking to squeeze in a little more travel time, as he wants to explore the one remaining corner of the

United States that he has yet to visit.

“I want to travel to the southeast to know what it’s like,” he said after noting his adventures in hiking in the other three regions. When asked what about the southeast appeals to him, he smiled and answered: “I want to hear if they really talk in that southern accent.”