12-year-old Amarii Rucker will be entering the ninth-grade at Meadowview Christian School this upcoming school year.

It is a rarity to find someone as gifted and knowledgeable as Rucker is.

We are impressed by how well he grasps information, and how well he has advanced throughout his education.

Truly he is something special and someone that Selma can be proud of.

His hard work and dedication to education and the maturity he possesses resonated with The Selma Times-Journal staff, and we know that he has a great future ahead of him.

We hope that he is a role model for others his age, and that he will use his gifts and talents to encourage others to find their own gifts and talents in their lives.

We wish him the best as he begins high school levels before he is even considered a teenager, and we know his goals to working in the medical field one day will come true with persistence and hard work.

We commend his father, Kenyotta Rucker, for pushing both of his children to be the best they can be.

We applaud the effort that he pushes them to have in everything they do, and that will pay off greatly in their future endeavors.