Two Moncton whiz kids off to elite academic summer camp

Above watch: Two high school students from are competing for top honours and for the chance to represent Canada at an elite summer camp for gifted students. Shelley Steeves reports.

MONCTON – They may be gifted in math and science, but two Moncton whiz kids could never have predicted the odds.

“I didn’t think I was ever going to get in,” said 16-year-old William Jardine.

He and Tim Meredith attend Harrison Trimble high school in Moncton. They both applied to represent New Brunswick at an elite academic summer camp for gifted students called Shad Valley, which accepts just 600 kids throughout the country to attend.

“I figured if I got in he probably would because we normally seem to be at the same level with all the academic things we do,” said Meredith.

Karla Jardine says the two became close friends back in grade school.

“In kindergarten I think they were drawn to each other because they were both shy and quiet boys who liked to read,” she said.

Over the years as their grades started to soar far above average, their friendship grew stronger.

“Academically, being kind similar to him means we can understand each other,” said Jardine.

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But he says so did a little friendly rivalry.

“The competition I think it’s grown over the years, the longer we knew each other the more competitive it’s been.”

“We always like to compare our marks and see what we got,” said Meredith. “You get the little nervous feeling at first cause you need to know who did better.”

Even though they were both high achievers, the boys were never satisfied until they outdid one another.

“The final unit I got a 95 and he got a 97 and that’s two marks and that was just devastating,” said Jardine.

So when he found out that Meredith had been accepted to Shad:

“At first I think I was really happy for him and then I started to get nervous,” he said.

“I could feel William’s emotions waiting to find out if he did,” Karla said.

And then the letter came and the two best friends were both selected among Canada’s top students. Even these two couldn’t calculate the odds.

“There was a lot of excitement but also relief too,” Jardine said.