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BETH N. GRAYShemir Wiles, the 17-year-old valedictorian at Wider Horizons school, went the distance to get her eduction.
SPRING HILL - At 17, Shemir Wiles has seen an enviable share of the world. She flew off to England as a sixth-grader. Since then she studied in Venezuela, Panama, Turkey, Peru and Ireland.
Those international field trips during her annual spring break vacations were part of her all-round education at Wider Horizons school. Now that education is complete, and Shemir is about to graduate as the school's valedictorian on May 28.
"We wanted to widen their (students') horizons," said Domenick Maglio, co-founder and co-director with his wife, Julie, of the school and its study-abroad offering.
Shemir was well prepared, even for her first adventure. She enrolled in Wider Horizons' Montessori classes at age 4. Only the Maglios' son, Coraggio, began at a younger age, 3.
Montessori seemed to be just right for Shemir, who was essentially raised as an only child, with her two older sisters about twice her age.
Montessori is a method of education designed to help children develop lasting curiosity, learn how to learn by themselves, become aware of their abilities and gain self-confidence by making use of those abilities.
"She was very shy when she came to us," Domenick Maglio said. "Now she's vocal and assertive and can help others assert themselves."
Rearing a successful student, said Lela Wiles, Shemir's mother, takes a lot of communication, love and support. She helped her daughter with homework until about the fourth grade.
"From then on, she was gung-ho," Mrs. Wiles said. "In summers, she went crazy. She wanted to keep going to school year-round."
Mrs. Wiles added, "I think the school had a lot to do with it."
Students at Wider Horizons were competitive, she emphasized. "(Shemir) definitely didn't want to be left behind."
And she wasn't.
International travel has been a highlight of Shemir's school days.
"We'd experience the culture, see historic sites," she said. Then she would write facts and impressions in a daily journal.
Did she cram before a trip?
"She doesn't cram," Maglio interjected, as Shemir paused to answer. "She does everything on time."
"In advance, we'd do papers - on the culture, religion, a certain city," a subject of the student's choice, Shemir said.
While abroad, the students and chaperones - usually a group of about 10 - would e-mail their daily experiences back to the school so that the field trip benefited everyone, Maglio noted.
Throughout their tours, Shemir was dependable, Maglio said.
"She helped all the way."
On returning home, the globe-trotters would form study circles, sharing photos they had taken and reading from their journals to prompt discussion.
Turkey was Shemir's favorite destination.
"It was completely different than any place I'd been before," she said. "What impressed me was how they relate to their religion (Islam). When it was time to pray, they would just stop whatever they were doing and get on their knees and pray."
The teen is generous as well as devoted to learning. If another student needs assistance with a subject, Shemir would volunteer. In the school's mentoring program, she helped children in the primary grades with reading assignments. Most recently, she signed on as assistant director of the school's year-end play, although she wasn't taking classes on site this year.
The honor student whizzed through Wider Horizons' college-prep classes by the end of her junior year and pursued an associate's degree at Pasco-Hernando Community College. College credits are required for a diploma awarded by Wider Horizons. Shemir needs three more courses for an associate's degree from PHCC.
In July, she will leave for the University of South Florida to study journalism. Shemir would like to write for a magazine or newspaper, then maybe move to broadcasting.
"I would like to help with the AIDS crisis in Africa," she said.
Added Maglio, "For a shy girl, that's quite an ambition."