Today, Towson Patch debuts a new feature, Whiz Kid of the Week. Know a whiz kid you'd like featured? Here's how to let us know.

Calvert Hall senior Andrew Mills defies student stereotypes. He’s not just a brain who aces even the toughest courses, or a multi-sport jock, or one of those kids who enjoys doing community outreach in his spare time (he volunteers at a nursing home). Andrew Mills does it all, and he does it well.           

“I think his peers really recognize him as one of the brightest kids in the school. They look to him as a very talented and extremely bright role model,” said Andrew Moore, who teaches Andrew advanced placement European History.

There are a lot of reasons for Andrew’s stellar reputation. He took four AP classes last year, scoring perfect 5’s in each of the culminating exams. He’s tackling an additional four AP classes this year. Chosen as a McMullen’s scholar, Andrew is part of a small cohort of students who engage in learning opportunities outside the classroom; the capstone project of the program is the senior independent project. For his, Andrew decided to analyze the feasibility of building a bridge that would span the Strait of Gibraltar.

“I knew I wanted to do something with engineering. I had asked myself ‘Why hasn’t it been built?’” Andrew said. Having researched the potential for such as bridge, Andrew concluded that, technologically, the bridge could be built. But who’s going to pay for it remains a question he hasn’t been able to answer. He is, after all, only 17.

And like most 17-year-olds, academics aren’t the only thing on Andrew’s mind. In fact, he considers one of his most memorable moments in high school last fall when, as a member of the varsity football team, Andrew reveled in victory as Calvert Hall clinched its first-ever MIAA A conference title.

“All the players got a gold jacket. To see a bunch of gold all over the school was pretty cool,” Andrew said. Right now, he’s getting psyched for spring lacrosse, another passion of his, where he’ll play his last season as a member of the varsity squad.

What sets Andrew apart from many of his peers is his academic drive. Having whizzed through Calculus 1 and 2, his teachers wanted to ensure that he continued being stimulated in math. So the chair of the mathematics department, Mr. Thaler, taught Calculus 3 to Andrew—just Andrew—last year. This year, he’s enrolled in Linear Algebra, an online course at Johns Hopkins.

With his strong math background, Andrew is considering studying engineering in college. Currently, he’s waiting to hear from seven of nine colleges to which he’s applied. He’s been accepted to University of Maryland’s Honors program, and to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

As he eyes his future, Andrew attempts to explain his past high school successes. “I found it really important to have a good relationship with my teachers. That way they understood I had a decent amount of stress and helped me get things done. Plus, it made me feel like if I didn’t [get things done], I would be disappointing not just me but my teachers too,” Andrew said.