Like many 11-year-old boys, Omari Lemmie wants to play on the middle school football team and likes video games.
“I don?t play video games much, he said. “My brain doesn?t rot or anything.”
Because Omari is exceptionally bright, he was recruited for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth program for four years.
“I?m always pretty high in my class, but I don?t gloat about it or anything,” said Omari, who attends the Friends School of Baltimore in the city.
In the program, Omari has taken several courses focused on history and writing. This year he chose heroes and villains, which looks at classic and contemporary literature.
“I?m very impressed with the way he analyzes texts,” said his teacher Claudia Rushing. “He?s very mature for his age.”
But Omari prefers writing.
His latest story was about pop singer Michael Jackson?s magical socks, which give him the power to moonwalk. But rival artist Prince steals the magical socks and Jackson?s chimp, Bubbles, has to get them back.
“I like writing about reality but having a twist,” Omari said. “I watch the news, and I?ll take a normal thing and make up something weird to write about it.”
Omari says he owes his knack for storytelling to his sister Asha, 14, who also attends the Johns Hopkins program.
“When she first learned to read, she always read to me and would ask me what I thought of the story,” Omari said. “That got me thinking about writing.”
Oman is planning to combine his love for writing and sports with a future career as a sports lawyer.
“His diplomatic skills are great,” Rushing said. “He?s very good at mediating and arguing his case. He?s our little politician.”
