Kid takes 3 foreign languages,
earns karate black belt

Eighth-grader Channing Hunter is studying three different foreign languages this year. And he's got a very practical reason for taking up his third, German.

The 13-year-old from Belleville, IL, said he hopes to become a pediatrician when he grows up. And German is a widely accepted primary language of medicine.

Channing Hunter

He said, "Many of the American medical texts are translations from German. This way, I'll be able to go to the original text when I'm studying medicine."

(This article is the first profile of elementary and middle school kids who were named last month as 2008 Gateway Young Achievers of the Year. This is the first of seven profiles which will be published this year.

(The Gateway Young Achievers are selected for their accomplishments in school and in their communities. Each YA winner is awarded a $1,000 savings bond and is automatically entered in the national YA competition.)

As the other Young Achievers, Channing is a top student in school. He attends Governor French Academy, a K-12 private school in Belleville.

He has a well-rounded life in the community.

Channing (center) receives Gold Medal in Kumtie at 2009 tournament in Chesterfield, MO

Channing is a black belt in karate, having finished 3rd in the 2008 USA National Federation Finals in Houston, TX. He takes lessons at Family Martial Arts in Belleville.

He's also an accomplished pianist. He's taken lessons since 2001. He studies classical, contemporary, spiritual and other piano styles from Jeff Taylor of O'Fallon, IL.

Residents of The Cambridge House Assisted Living Facility in O'Fallon, IL, gather around the piano to listen to Channing

Besides performing in recitals, Channing also volunteers to play piano for residents of the Cambridge House Assisted Living facility in O'Fallon, IL.

These musical performances have a special meaning for Channing. The woman who cared for him when he was a baby is now a resident at the facility. He calls her "Grandma" although she isn't a blood relative.

He looks at this as a way to pay her back for all the good care she gave while he was growing up.

He also competes on his school's soccer and chess teams.

Channing referees the 5-7 year old Kumtie division in Steeleville, IL

Governor French's soccer team competes against other private schools in both Illinois and Missouri.

Channing has participated in the 2008 Association of Bright Learners Education at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville. He also was a Math Counts participant at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL.

He also placed first in the Governor French Academy 2008 Science Fair and received a gold medal for excellence in the regional competition at SIUE.

His experiment involved testing the memory capacity of youngsters 10, 11, 12 and 13 years of age at his school. The kids read some written material and then were tested on what they could remember.

The kids were tested on their ability to remember words as well as random letters and numbers. Channing said the memory capacity got higher as the kids got older.

In his language studies, Channing started with Spanish when he was in first grade.

His study of Mandarin Chinese is more complicated because the Chinese don't use an alphabet as we do in English and other romance languages. Also, the Chinese characters are written much differently.

And his study of German also has some extras.

For one thing, Channing is not only a student but also serves as teacher to five other kids when the regular German teacher can't teach their class.

One of their recent projects involved preparing for an upcoming visit to a nearby German restaurant. Channing and the other students did all of their ordering in German.

Channing expects his participation in karate to be a lifelong activity.

He got his first black belt two years ago.

He was scheduled to be tested for his 1st degree black belt late last month. That is the first of what is a total of 10 degrees, earned as you get more proficient.

Channing said, "You earn the 10th degree when you die."

He said he's interested in karate for more than the physical activities.

"You also learn discipline and self control, which you can use throughout your life," he said.

Asked how he's used those principles so far, he said, "I don't get as mad at my sister as I used to." His sister, Abril, is 8 and he says that a sister five years younger can be a trial at times.

Channing's dad, Leon, is in sales and marketing for a Swiss agricultural firm named Syngenta.

That business affiliation resulted in Channing having a unique experience. For three years, he took part in a program at the University of Missouri-Columbia entitled Exposing Students to Agriculture.

The program at the Bradford Agronomy Research Center gave city kids like Channing an inside look at today's agriculture.