Indy’s single digit achievers on the move

By Gloria Hernandez and Ben Knight

They said it couldn’t be done. In a hardscrabble metropolis with a million people, a hundred thousand or more under the age of 10, how could we truly identify the movers and shakers of the single-digit set? Well, we did it, all right, by surveying area day care centers, pre-schools, after-school programs, charter schools, elementary schools, Chuck E. Cheeses and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. We queried local educators, perused test scores and lurked behind them as they instant-messaged their friends.

Without tooting our horn, we think we’ve come up with a near-complete picture of the powerbrokers of the future. Call them Generation 2020, call them Team 10 Under 10, call them out of their rooms and in for dinner. These are the faces of tomorrow … today.

Extra Credit

Winslow McHendricks, 8 Zionsville

Winslow McHendricks, 8, was born in Zionsville where she has lived all her life. Nominated by her elementary school classmates as Most Likely to Succeed in Middle School, McHendricks is still a humble, down-to-earth girl.

Her bedroom is neat as a proverbial pin. “My parents made me clean it up before you came,” she admits shyly.

Prominently-placed is her brand new computer.

“I’m on it four or five hours a day,” she says, her smile lighting up the room. “I play chess with Wang, a boy in China … at least I’m pretty sure he’s a boy. I like to Google entire cities and explore them. And I’m fascinated by tsunamis. Of course it’s all for extra credit.”

If “Winnie” didn’t already have a nickname, then “Extra Credit” might be an appropriate moniker, or so says her teacher, Mrs. Balmgarten. “A day doesn’t go by that Winnie isn’t turning in extra work,” the 35-year-old teacher says. “I can’t hardly keep up!”

We sit in their spacious, minimally-furnished living room with her parents, Rich, 43, a lawyer, and Veronica, 46, a doctor, who ascribe their daughter’s driven personality to a combination of nature and nurture.

“She sees us bring work home all the time,” speculates Rich, “and so she’s already picked up the habit.”

Veronica nods in agreement. “The Type A apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Then she adds, “I’m so proud of her.”

Our interview is interrupted as Veronica’s beeper goes off; she bolts to her feet to make a phone call. Meanwhile, we can hear the sound of Winnie at her computer.

“As an only child,” Rick observes, “Winnie spends a lot of time in her room, alone. Sometimes, I think we should have had another kid or two. Other times, I think she’s the equivalent of two or three kids, in and of herself.”

We couldn’t agree more.

“I consider myself normal”

Gigi Goshen, 7 Indianapolis

A go-getter with an unstoppable head of steam, Gigi Goshen is off the hook crazy with ideas. Just ask her. Better yet, just spend time with her and before you know it, you’ll find yourself in a whirlwind of creativity. So much so, this young Indianapolis girl has her own marketing company, Go Girl, You.

“‘You Go Girl’ was already taken,” Gigi explains.

Gigi, an A+ student at the Super Achievers Charter School of Indianapolis (SACSI), goes to elementary school in the mornings, then to her job in the afternoons where she cajoles and motivates her company of eight people.

“Sometimes I just have to stand on the boardroom table and say, ‘Let’s do it people, let’s create some Deliverables!’”

Go Girl, You currently has over a dozen accounts, including the Indianapolis Colts, the Children’s Museum and the Indianapolis Zoo, all institutions concerned with getting the single digit set to populate their events.

“I consider myself normal,” Gigi states. “Well, maybe even supernormal. In my work, I know what I like and then I just … extrapolate outward.”

According to her mom, Deloris Goshen, Gigi has been extrapolating from the get-go. From before the get-go. “Gigi never stopped moving in my womb,” Deloris recalls. “I thought she was going to be a gymnast.”

“Marketing is my life,” Gigi states. “You should see my 24-hour Web cam show, Go Girl Goes. That’s what I do. I’m like that bunny whose name I can’t say because I hope to get the Duracell account soon.”

Whatever kind of bunny you call her, Gigi will blow your mind with her inventive creations.

“Kind of a blow-out”

Tom Splendor, 9 Greenwood

We’ve been focusing on kids whose brainpower has led them to positions of leadership, but we don’t want to neglect the body! It’s important, too! So, picking Tom Splendor was a no-brainer, so to speak, because at the tender age of 9, he is already being recruited by college basketball scouts.

Tom Splendor, whose prowess at the round-ball was recognized early on, is the product of two super-athlete parents. His mom, Roni, played basketball for Duke and was headed for the pros before a knee injury ruined her career. Tom’s dad, Mick, played professional tennis, once battling Bjorn Borg to the fifth set.

“Pretty quickly,” recalls mom Roni, “we saw that basketball was going to be his main game.”

“Pretty quickly YOU saw that,” counters Mick, smiling. Already almost 6 feet tall, Tom Splendor plays hoops for his elementary school, once scoring 212 points for his team who eventually won the game, 216-8.

“It was kind of a blow-out,” Tom admits shyly, adding that he “sat out the last five minutes. I probably could have hit 300.”

That was the game that put him on the national map for future NBA players; each subsequent game has been attended by numerous scouts.

“Once, Isaiah Thomas came and watched me,” Tom says, clearly humbled. “And Larry Bird has seen me twice.”

Tom’s regimen starts early from basketball practice before school, to more practice after. In the evening, he receives private tutoring from coaches and even former NBA players.

“We don’t want to namedrop,” Roni says, “but Dennis Rodman was here in the summer for two months.”

“Only because he had nowhere else to go,” counters Mick, smiling.

“I’m not turning pro right out of high school,” Tom maintains. “I want to get a good college education.”

“Sure you do, honey,” Roni says, smiling.

“I just think stuff up”

Connor Quinn, 9 Indianapolis

This impressive young person has already patented a number of inventions, accomplishing in his single digits what would have taken others decades of toil. In the process he has amassed wealth beyond comprehension, enabling his parents to raze their modest Geist Reservoir home and build another, one that soars four stories high while burrowing for another four into the earth.

Connor’s first invention was a contraption that he fashioned to catch the saliva that dripped from his 2-year-old mouth.

“I don’t recall actually building it,” Connor admits. “I mean I was awfully young, but my parents remember how irritated I seemed when I was, well, drooling, and how the stalactite of spit would extend to my chest and end up adhering to my neck and other unpleasantries. Obviously, I did something about it.”

Other inventions soon followed, including a similar contraption that helped contain his now long-deceased dog Shep’s diarrhea, a device that kept his bottle warm without burning anyone and a voice parse translator so that he could understand his cat’s meows.

Surprisingly, Connor eschews the computer, at least when it comes to thinking up inventions. Once he’s “had a me-piphany,” as he says, he draws out the basic design of the invention. Then and only then does he go to the computer.

“I search to see if anyone else has created it, first,” Connor says. “Then I seek out components or aspects of the device to see if something or someone is half-way there.”

His parents point out that Connor is so prolific, they recently hired a full-time patent attorney to be present when Connor has a revelation.

Go to Guy

Kyle Mendenhauf, 8 Indianapolis

If you’re interested in thinking ahead about your career, then Kyle’s your go-to guy. Only 8 years old, Kyle has already become well-known at his charter school, Deliver Us From Evil Heights, and beyond. He has mastered the art of resume writing, and utilizing various software programs compatible to either Mac or PC units.

“I myself,” he says, “want to end up as a headhunter for a high-powered agency. I like nothing more than finding the right person for the right job.”

At this juncture, Kyle estimates that he has completed over 400 resumes with concomitant cover letters, with a placement success ratio of 10 to 1.

“I’ve gotten kids hired all over the place, even and especially where common wisdom would have called it impossible for someone so young to be employed.”

Job placements include golf caddy, busboy, toy company spokesperson, soldier of fortune and candy tester.

“I really wanted that candy tester job myself,” Kyle admits. “But I was afraid it would take me away from my work here.”

Kyle stays in contact with his various clients via e-mail and instant-messaging. “They are always wanting to tweak their Statement of Objective,” he says, shaking his head.

His mother, Debbie, worries sometimes. “I am not aware that he sleeps — at all. No matter what time of night I go in there he’s always up at the computer, hammering away at somebody’s resume.”

“Too much to accomplish,” Kyle counters. “I can sleep when I’m dead.”

“A form of flattery”

Jay Pendergastinghouse Jr., 6 Zionsville

OK, we know this is an awfully young fellow, but already his list of accomplishments would put most kids to shame. Jay is in first grade at Neapolitan Charter School and not only is he president of the student body, he was the main force behind establishing an election in the first place.

In the course of the first three months of the school year, he organized an initiative by which students and faculty alike were convinced of the necessity of elections, then campaigned tirelessly for his own ascendancy into office.

Now, as president, he’s instituted a number of activities, including:

• A recycling program for the entire school (K-8)

• Watchdog program for safety and humane treatment of the science lab animals

• Lunchbox imagery review committee (of which he is the head)

• Sugarwatch! Nutrition awareness initiative

• Future Leaders of America (Midwest chapter).

His fellow students are amazed at his level of activity, so much so that occasionally taunts of “dweeb” and “brown nose” are whispered on the playground — insults that don’t seem to bother Jay at all: “Sarcasm is a form of flattery, so says my dad.”

Jay Pendergastinghouse Sr., his father, is more to the point. “They’re jealous,” states the successful lawyer, doctor and novelist. “It was the same when I was in school. All the smart, productive kids are disdained by the mainstream culture.”

Jay’s mother, Diane Pendergastinghouse, declined to be interviewed, but issued a statement that pointed out her son “began speaking at a very young age, was very organized with his toys and overall was a joy to know.”

Without a doubt, Jay’s a worthy member of our Team 10 Under 10!

A “unique individualness”

Zane Sky Czoudakus, 9 Indianapolis

Zane Sudakus, 9, is no ordinary boy — which you can tell right away from his name. Born of Susan “Maize” Parish and Nelson Dackus, Zane was given an amalgam last name to, as he says, “accentuate my unique individualness.”

Homeschooled his entire life, Zane spends his days “exploring things in my yard and in my parents’ library.”

According to dad Nelson, Zane is “near-genius”: He recently won the Indiana State Spelling Bee Contest for the age group above him (10- to 12-year-olds). Zane also won a First Place award for his essay “Why I Think Praying Mantises Are Not Really Praying,” for the Marion County Science Essay Contest.

The middle child of five, Zane didn’t speak until he was 3 years old and then, according to his mother, Susan, “He wouldn’t shut up. It was like he had an on and off switch and it was activated. He literally talked all day once he started until he fell asleep that night.”

“Actually, he even talked in his sleep,” Nelson recalls, laughing. “Then he shut up again for a couple of years or so.”

Zane’s precocious talents became clear to his parents when he was 4 years old. One night, they went to check on him and discovered his bed empty. They eventually found him outside, mesmerized by their neighbor’s bright blue electric mosquito killer.

“He was just staring at it,” Susan remembers. “But then we realized he was also making a humming sound.”

Nelson interjects, “The humming sound got louder until all of a sudden the light inside the mosquito killer shattered. Later we realized that Zane had somehow interpolated the electromagnetic pulse frequency of the device, counter-valence-ing it until its pitch reached critical mass.”

“It was a wonder,” exclaims Susan, “that he didn’t get any small pieces of glass embedded in his skin!”

Zane, who declined to be interviewed for this story, could be heard humming in his room.

“I live to dance”

Rashella Simpson, 8 Carmel

We had to work hard to get an interview with Rashella as she is always on the move — and we mean that literally! An elementary school record holder in swimming along with being an accomplished ballerina, Rashella seems always to be engaged in one athletic activity or another.

Her regimen begins at 5 a.m. when she gets up and is driven by her mother to Carmel High School to practice in its world-class swimming pool. She works out until 8 and then is driven to her elementary school where she spends the day in class, just like any other normal 8-year-old. But after school, her mother once again whisks her away, this time to Pleasant Run Dance Academy where she takes one-on-one lessons from one of Indy’s most respected ballet instructors, Alexi Petrushko. By 6 o’clock, when most other kids her age are settled in at the dinner table, Rashella is at the local healthplex, doing pilates with her mother.

“Sometimes I worry she pushes too hard,” her mother, Ashley, says. “But she’s always got a smile on her face.”

“My eyes are, like, bloodshot,” Rashella explains, “from the chlorine. It’s not like I’m crying or anything. I love to swim, I live to dance and I like pilates because it’s soooooo relaxing.” Rashella, whose father lives somewhere in the West, says she wishes she could see him, but figures, “He’ll find me someday when I’m a gold medalist or on Broadway.” As far as we’re concerned, Rashella Simpson is on her way to both.

“Raspberry embouchure”

Jimmy Nelson, 7 Indianapolis

Only 7 years old, Jimmy has managed to win every available visual art award in the city. Most notably, last year he was named Penrod Boy of the Year and had his own booth at the annual arts fair held on the grounds of the IMA.

Origummi is Jimmy’s specialty, though his talents spawn far beyond that. But origummi has a special place in his heart as he considers it one of his first artforms.

“When I was about 4,” the home-schooled boy from the Irvington neighborhood recalls, “I was chewing about four pieces of gum all crammed in my mouth and … I don’t know … I just had this idea to pull it out and, well, make it into something.” Moments later, he had fashioned his piece of gum into a small sculpture of a fox terrier.

He still possesses that first origummi sculpture.

“My pop sprayed polyurethane on it to make it last,” Jimmy says.

Once he’d mastered the art of origummi, Jimmy moved on to other mediums such as bugger macrame, earwax collage and his current favorite, a technique he calls “Boogerism.”

Jimmy isn’t limited to visual arts mediums. Recently he’s delved just as successfully into the performing arts, quickly perfecting a vocalization he calls “burping in harmonic octaves,” along with a hand-in-armpit noise he calls “raspberry embouchure” and something he enigmatically refers to as “round flatulence.”

He also can pull his eyelids back in such a way that makes you want to wretch, and don’t even get us started on that trick he does with his double-jointed finger! Gross!

“Special gifts”

Max Morrison, 2 1/2 Indianapolis

Surely the youngest member of our Team 10, Max Morrison came to our attention late in the proceedings when we thought we’d solidified our final list. But, despite his tender age, we felt he had to rocket to the top once we learned of his accomplishments.

Though Max isn’t very verbal at this point in his early childhood development, he has wowed God’s Little Angles [Sic] Daycare Center with a variety of supernatural talents.

The first indication, according to his mother, Mercedes Morrison, was the reported “M.C. Escher-like construction of blocks.”

Despite the fact that no photographic evidence exists to support the claim, God’s Little Angles [Sic] Daycare proprietor Diane Jonesington says she “saw it with my own eyes. It was a like a miracle. The building little Max built had no beginning and no end, and it circled round itself in ways that defied the imagination. Just like God Himself.” Unfortunately, another toddler obliterated the structure by falling into it.

Mercedes agrees that her only child has “special gifts.” She claims that she walked in on her son levitating a half foot off the carpet of their Southside apartment. “He’s got a special glow, too, you know. And I feel like he’s always reading my mind.”

Mercedes acknowledges that Max’s gifts may have something to do with his beloved hand puppet, whom Max calls “Doogy.” She says, “Sometimes, I’ll catch Max with that dang puppet near his ear, as if he’s listening to it talk.”

God’s Little Angles [Sic] Daycare proprietor Jonesington recounts the time that fellow daycare client Baker (last name withheld), 3, fell and “knocked himself out, cold. His head started to swell and little Max walked over and put his hand puppet up to him and shook a little and a minute later Baker stood up all well and no swelling on his head at all. I praised Lord.”

The identity of Max’s father was not revealed to us during the interview process, nor would Jonesington deign to speculate.

To us, this special child seems pretty much like a normal toddler, though we did detect a holy kind of glow around him.

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