"She made up her mind she wanted to be a straight A student. I never had to come to her and say, 'Get to your homework,' " her mother said.

Howard has been one school year ahead of peers her same age since she skipped the fourth grade. "We talked about skipping seventh grade, but she decided to stay back with friends," her mother said.

Currently, Howard is representing Utah in the U.S. Senate Youth Program in Washington, D.C. She'll return with a $5,000 college scholarship.

Howard, a Sterling Scholars finalist, is on her school's debate team and competes in extemporaneous speaking, in which she is given a topic about a national issue. She then has 30 minutes to prepare a speech.

Howard dreams of ultimately getting a law degree and aims to become an ambassador.

Brewer thinks he wants to attend medical school one day.

But he isn't slacking, even though he doesn't have to worry about getting into college.

"I think I need to take time to get a perfect score on the SAT," Brewer said.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com