Smith lands PHS' Reed scholarship

Hard work in the classroom and playing field helped Zach Smith land the 2008 Teddy and Barbara Reed scholarship at Princeton High School. (BCR photo/Brad Martin)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

PRINCETON — Rarely do you find kids that just flat out love math classes in high school. Many of the ones that do often become teachers and try to pass that knowledge along to other students.

That, along with a solid senior season in three sports, are two reasons why Zach Smith was awarded the Teddy and Barbara Reed All-Academic Sports Scholarship at Princeton High School.

“It is absolutely a huge honor to get this scholarship,” said Smith, who is headed to Illinois State University and will major in mathematics. “Anytime you can get something like that to help out with tuition it’s big and I am very grateful to receive this.”

Smith is one of those students who just gets it when it comes to math, and appropriately so, he is one of the bright math students who wants to teach.

“I’m not sure why, but math has always come pretty easy to me,” Smith said in his Senior Spotlight earlier in the year. “I’m not sure how I got to like it so much, but I do know I would like to become a teacher and make it fun for them, like my teachers have done for me.”

Math is just one of many strong points to help make Smith successful in the classroom, as he was ranked 23rd out of 140 in his class.

Two or three hours of homework each night was a normal night for Smith, who says being busy with that and sports will help him in college.

“Being so busy with sports and homework in high school will help a lot when I go off to college,” Smith said in his Reed Scholarship resume. “In college, you have to get so much done is a short amount of time in the classroom.”

As far as athletics go, Smith played four years for the Tigers’ football and basketball teams, as well as playing tennis his freshman year and baseball the past three years.

Smith was a team captain his senior season on football, basketball and baseball for the Tigers.

“Being named a captain was a big honor for me,” Smith said. “It’s a lot of responsibility, but it meant a lot to me.”

Smith was awarded for more than being named team captain. In his senior football season, Smith was awarded offensive end of the year, offensive player of the year and team MVP. He was picked NCIC Lincoln first-team receiver.

“I was totally shocked when I got first-team NCIC Lincoln,” Smith said. “I didn’t think I was even that good, but for the coaches in such a tough conference to vote for me is just a great feeling.”

In baseball, he was named NCIC second-team pitcher.

Smith also received big honors off the field and in the classroom. During Smith’s junior and senior seasons, he was named to the NCIC Lincoln All-Academic first team, and this past year, he was named to the first-team all-state academic team in football.

Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.