College-bound 15-year-old never lets anything stop him

It's great to have brains and it's great to have guts, but it's best to have both.

That's what helped Virginia City High School graduate Skyler Jones, 15, graduate three years early and get accepted into the University of Nevada, Reno physics program. He plans to become a doctor and specialize in internal medicine.

The slender, 5'7" student's intelligence is apparent right away, but according to his mom and one of his former teachers, that's not the only reason for his success.

Cathylee James praised her son for never giving up, despite being smaller than others in the same grade.

"He never let anything stop him," she said. "He did whatever he wanted to do. That's how he got where he is, and he has done an incredible job with it."

Skyler played basketball in Virginia City, starting with the Mighty Mites for first- through fifth-graders, then middle school and high school. He ran track through middle school and cross country in high school.

James said in the beginning, her son would come in last in cross country. Then he started focusing on beating at least one student each race.

"He triumphed in his own way, because he was three or four years younger and smaller," she said. "But he's never used it as an excuse, he just jumps in and does things with everyone else."

Former Virginia City Middle School lead teacher Barbara Bush also credited "that fortitude he has" and an ability to not let difficulties overwhelm him.

"What I think helped him survive and do so well is he could let a lot of things roll off his back," she said. "He has a big-picture look about things. I've known a few kids as smart as him, and one of them never really got anywhere because they didn't have that attitude or guts."

Skyler said he ignored other kids' teasing, and credited sports with teaching him to not quit, along with sportsmanship and teamwork.

He had no worries about entering college so young.

"I'm going to be in college a long time, so it's a good thing," he said.

With college and medical school, Skyler will begin his medical residency at about 23, again, three years ahead of the rest of the world.

He earned $3,000 in scholarships and finished with a grade point average of 3.85. In addition to basketball and track, he competed in the Academic Olympics from middle school through high school and was active in the drama department all four years at VCHS.

He said he was acting since age 5, when his mother took him along when she performed as part of the Gold Hill Theater Troupe. He is appearing Monday-Wednesday through July 30 with Piper's Players at Piper's Opera House in the murder mystery "Death of a Doornail."

"I just always loved to be on stage," he said. "It's fun to take on a new persona."

And if that isn't enough for him to do, he is working full-time at Red's Candies in Virginia City and part-time at the Gold Hill Hotel to earn more money for college.

Skyler said what made him want to enter medicine was a summer program at UNR called Medical Scholars, which allowed students to shadow doctors and solve simulated cases and diagnose artificial patients.

"The only one I got wrong was the first one," he said. "I said hepatitis and it was mononucleosis."

James said Skyler was ready to start school at age 4, when he was allowed into the gifted and talented program in the Storey County School District. He went to kindergarten for a half day and read with the second grade class for the other half. The next year, he went into the second grade, but read with the fourth-graders, skipping first and third altogether."

"But he never moved through school without the consensus of the teachers and staff," James said. "This was certainly the place for Skyler to go to school because he has been treated so well and every effort has been made to accommodate his unique circumstances. It's very personalized and helps each student along."

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-7351.