An article in the Houston Chronicle Regarding twins & academics!

This is really exciting! Three Houston area schools had twins as valedictorians and salutitorians! OMG...i'm dreaming about scholarships and more scholarships for the girls college! We have planned that whatever they make in scholarships they receive in cold hard cash(if we have enough money saved)...which will be a GREAT incentive for the girls to make good grades! AND, if for some CRAZY reason they decide NOT to go to college...we're taking all the money we've saved and buying a house in Hawaii and a few sports cars for us! LOL!!

I think educationally wise..having a twin is AWESOME! If one is good at one subject..and the other is good at a different subject...they can help each other through school. Not cheat...but they'll be able to learn from each other.

O, how would have loved to have a twin and get some help when i was in school!




May 28, 2008, 11:17PMAt three area schools, twins are tops in academics
By ALLAN TURNERCopyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
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All through their years at Houston's Worthing High School, the Bates twins worked as a team. Annette was student council president; Anita, vice president. Anita was honor society treasurer; Annette, parliamentarian. Both held seats on the superintendent's student advisory committee and were leaders of the business club.
This Saturday they will be honored as the top students of Worthing's Class of 2008. Anita, the valedictorian, will pursue college studies leading to a nurse practitioner's degree. Annette, the salutatorian, will study business and pre-law.
It's cap-and-gown time in Houston — that annual rite of passage when young scholars march across the stage into adult responsibilities. The Bates twins — one of at least three sets of Houston-area twins to this year earn top honors — will join approximately 7,500 other HISD seniors in getting diplomas.
"They are driven, very competitive," Worthing Principal Robert Dean said of the Bates twins. "They respect and love each other, and they come from an outstanding family. They've gotten a lot of support at home."
Anita, who showed great talent for math, said she never overtly aspired to top honors. "It was unexpected," she said. "My goal was simply to perform to the best of my ability."
Her sister sounded a similar theme. "I just worked my best throughout my school years," Annette said, "and when I reached my senior year, I just continued to work and study hard."
Both sisters plan to enroll at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches.
A twin surge Other top twins include Shelly and Kelly Ostrofsky and Theresa and Christopher Valach, among 25 co-valedictorians at Memorial High School in Spring Branch ISD. Memorial's Class of 2008 received diplomas in ceremonies last weekend.
HISD officials believe Anita and Annette are the first twins to take top honors at a district school. But demographic data suggest such events may become more common.
The American Academy of Pediatrics referred questions to Virginia pediatrician Dr. John Moore. "We're seeing more and more twins," Moore said. Multiple births have increased more than 70 percent since 1980.
He attributed the phenomenon to fertility treatments, which often result in multiple births, and aging mothers, who are more likely to have twins. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found twin births to mothers ages 40-44 increased 63 percent between 1980 and 1997.
For years, Moore said, researchers believed that twins were subject to slower academic, social and motor skill development. "But how we think about twins has changed dramatically in the last 10 to 15 years," he said. Newer studies, controlling for low birth weight and premature delivery, have found no difference in the rate of development between children of twin and single births.
The excellence of 2008's top twins leads to the obvious question: Nature or nurture?
"I guess it's a bit of both," said Janie Valach, mother of Theresa and Christopher. "They just did it on their own. There was nothing I had to force them to do."
The twins were "organized and disciplined," she said. "They didn't have time to waste."
"I'm just glad it's over," Christopher said of his high school career. Christopher, who swam competitively from his freshman year, has been accepted at Washington University in St. Louis, where he plans to major in chemical and, possibly, biomedical engineering.
His sister, Theresa, who was active in swimming and water polo, will attend Stanford University. "I'm still not really sure of my major — either economics or chemistry," she said. "I'd like to go on to graduate school and get my master of business administration.
"I know that we competed so much in school, but we didn't really compete with each other," Theresa said. "If I didn't understand something, he helped me out. We were both best for each other."
Ready to be 'on my own'
Shelly Ostrofsky, who graduated from Memorial with a 6.58 grade point average on a seven-point scale, called herself a "perfectionist."
"I'd work late just to get everything done, and I'm very determined," she said. "I like getting good grades. My favorite subject depends on the teacher rather than the actual subject. If the teacher is interactive and good with the class, it's always more fun for me."
Like Christopher, she said she will attend Washington University, though she has yet to decide on a major.
Shelly and her sister were members of the National Honor Society, ran competitively and participated in other clubs and community service projects.
Kelly Ostrofsky, who matched her sister's grades, plans to attend Duke University in Durham, N.C.
"We've been together our whole lives," Kelly said. "It'll be good for a change to be in different schools. We'll still be able to talk through Facebook and call. ... But I'm definitely ready to be out on my own."