PROVO — Kenneth Brewer is one of those unusual students who comes along perhaps once in a school counselor's career.

"I don't think I've ever experienced a student like him," Timpview High School counselor Monte Marshall said.

Not only does Brewer speak four languages, he has won more than $300,000 in scholarships since the eighth grade. Yet he doesn't like a lot of attention. He turned down an opportunity to be valedictorian when his class graduates next Thursday. Instead, another top student, Catherine Leavy, will take that role.

An accelerated student, Brewer has been attending Brigham Young University this year, gaining college credits concurrently with high school credits. He is Harvard-bound where he plans to study medical research. He is graduating from high school a year and a half early, said Colette Davis, who runs the scholarship program at Timpview.

Brewer's father, Utah Valley State College guidance counselor Bruce Brewer, has been instrumental in directing his son toward an unusual number of scholarships, said his mother Cindy Brewer, a professor of German at BYU.

"He knows what to do when," she said of her husband.

It's the same assistance he can offer other students, she said.

Kenneth Brewer shares his multilingual talent with his five brothers. All speak German, which they learned from their mother. He also speaks Spanish and French.

Their mother speaks German to her family exclusively, while her husband speaks English.

Among his many scholarships is the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship of $120,000 over four years. The scholarship is for exceptional students who have a financial need. Kenneth Brewer was one of 46 students nationally to receive the scholarship, said Laura Stevens, spokeswoman for the foundation.

He is also a Presidential Scholar, an award that includes a trip to Washington, D.C., in June where he and a fellow student will meet with the president.

Brewer showed his academic prowess early on when he scored a perfect 36 on the ACT test in 2005 as a freshman. Unlike most students who take summers off or get a summer job, he traveled abroad where he continued to learn and experience other cultures, said Marshall.

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E-mail: rodger@desnews.com