Focused on skills

Chris Myers is a fifth-grader at Pasadena Park Elementary who has a habit.

Though he is only 10, he can’t seem to shake it. He practices everything, anything, over and over again until he gets good.

“He’s focused,” said his mother, Mary Lou Myers. “He gets good at something and likes to move on.”

He likes to try new things, and the list of things he has tried – and mastered – is long.

Two years ago, he took a yo-yo class at Colors on the Wind, 118 E. Wellesley Ave. Now he’s a champ and can out-trick most anybody.

He has more than a dozen yo-yos, a couple of which he won at a tournament.

A year ago he took up kayaking and the cello. He is a member of the Spokane Canoe and Kayak Club, and recently he won an award for the most improved kayaker in his age group, and his cello rarely gathers dust, as he often works on perfecting his notes.

Two weeks ago, he took up the unicycle, and already he’s cruising up and down his steep driveway. He also enjoys basketball, baseball, snowboarding and skateboarding, which, of course, he practices.

Even with all of his practicing, his schoolwork does not falter. His framed letter from the state superintendent of public instruction congratulating him on his WASL scores last year is proof of that.

His newest endeavor is photography. Chris found an older camera in his parents’ closet and began capturing nature at its best. He has requested a new camera for Christmas.

Though he is not exactly sure what he wants to be when he grows up, a photographer sounds good for now so he can “go fun places and meet nice people.”

What he does know for sure is that he does not want a job in a cubicle; adventure is what he’s looking for.

For now he will continue to challenge himself and practice, practice, and practice some more. What better way is there to learn?