Siblings, 14 and 15, prepare to enter MIT

MARTINSBURG (AP)

At ages 14 and 15, siblings David and Joseph Van Valen will hit the campus as freshmen.

That's the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus, as college freshman.

The brothers will start their college days on July 1 after graduating with Martinsburg High's Class of 1999.

"Academically, these kids could have easily functioned in college three years ago, no question," said Paul Kazmierczak, a Martinsburg High chemistry teacher.

At MIT, David will be enrolled in mathematics and Joseph will study computer sciences. Their mother, Lauretta Carroll, will move to Cambridge, Mass., to be near them for their first nine months in school.

The Los Angeles-born siblings were accepted last year to UCLA and the University of California at Berkeley, but their mom wanted them close by to get another year of physical and emotional growth.

"I really wanted them to grow another inch," she admitted.

The boys each have about 70 college credits from courses they've taken at Hagerstown (Md.) Community College and Shepherd College. Mechanical drawing is the only course they're taking at Martinsburg High School this semester.

They arrived in high school when David was 10 and Joseph was 11. While other students were learning long division, the brothers were enrolled in trigonometry and pre-calculus classes.

The brothers, who had been home-schooled for two years before entering high school, grew up being required by their mother to read 70 pages each day.

"If they can sit down and watch TV for an hour, they can read 70 pages," Carroll said.

Carroll, an electrical engineer who runs her own software company, said parents can most effectively prepare their children for college by instilling the love of reading.

"Everybody in this house has a job," Carroll said. "My job is to work and provide. Their job is the pursuit of academic excellence."

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