Name: Zachary Hays

Age: He is 15 years old.

School: He is a Pattonville High School freshman.

Key to Awesomeness: Zac has the ability to laugh at himself, he pays attention in class, and he makes a point to be social and make new friends.

When Zac isn't playing in the marching band, singing in the concert choir, or sitting in an honors class, odds are you will find him at a computer. He loves playing multilevel computer games just like his dad, who is a computer system administrator.

Zac likes designing strategies and figuring out his opponents' moves in advance, staying one step ahead of them. He enjoys role playing, too, and always looks forward to his biweekly meetings with a Dungeons and Dragons group.

When he was in the seventh-grade gifted program, Zac was selected to take the ACT as part of Duke University's Talent Identification Program. At only 12 years old, he scored a 17 on the test. The next year, he got an 18, which is considered exceptional for a middle schooler. He was awarded a certificate and medal in a Springfield, MO ceremony for this achievement.

In the past two years, Zac has moved school districts from Pattonville to Fort Zumwalt, then back to Pattonville. He weathered these big changes extremely well, his mom, Heather, said.

"He just takes things in stride and is really easygoing," she said.

Zac is a very helpful kid. He mows lawns and shovels driveways for their older neighbors, and he was excited to learn CPR through a program at school so he could be even more helpful someday if needed. He talks about CPR training here.

The Pattonville High School marching band has been invited to perform in a parade in Hawaii in 2012, and Zac plans to save up enough money to be able to attend.

"He deserves to go," said his mom. "It would mean a lot to him."

Zac hopes to become a computer or video game programmer someday.

If you would like to nominate a Whiz Kid, please send the following information to the editor at rob.mclean@patch.com:

• Nominator's name and email
• Whiz Kid's name, age and school
• Whiz Kid's key to awesomeness (what made him/her successful?)

Send in your Whiz Kid submission today!