TEN-YEAR-OLD Axel Zimmerman-Davison is unmistakably an Einstein lookalike with his untamed shock of blonde hair.
The pair may also have brains in common, with Axel recently placed in Australia’s top two percent in the ICAS Assessment for Spelling Bee.
The test is a series of voluntary academic challenges designed to test students’ thinking and celebrate their academic skills.
The areas assessed are dictation, rules and conventions, proofreading and correcting.
“I feel pretty proud,” said Axel, who attends year four at Gloucester Public School.
“[My] mates are happy for me and give me a high five.”
In 2023 Axel won a prestigious English award and has also raised $830 for the MS Readathon for reading ten books within a month.
Aside from excelling academically, Axel also has a mind for charity.
With his mum and team, Axel is walking to raise funds for kids with cancer, a move initiated by Linda and Matthew Rozynski.
“Family is more important than anything and I try to keep excelling to make mum proud,” said Axel.
“I definitely want to be a scientist who can cure my mum’s MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and also other people’s cancer,” he added.
Axel’s single-parent mum, Emma, is proud of her son’s effort in and out of the classroom.
“I was feeling really unwell one day and he comes home with a medal for mathematics which makes me so happy and proud,” Emma said.
“Sometimes competing gives him determination, gets him out of his comfort zone and [pushes] him further as he thrives on that.”
Emma recalls an instance when a teacher at preschool asked everyone to write a letter which would be randomly sent to locals.
Axel’s letter happened to go to the manager of a local bank.
“He [the bank manager] was so touched that the bank donated $500 to the preschool,” Emma said.
By Bob TEOH
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