When he was nine months old, Sam Greene's mom began teaching him how to read. By a year and a half, he was a fluent reader. When he started kindergarten, he was at an eighth-grade reading level.

"He was interested in trucks and motorcycles," said Sam's mom, Patricia, who was trained in sensory stimulation. "I would just take a picture of a truck and write ‘truck' underneath it. Our entire house was just covered with signs."

Greene, now 17, is a senior at West High School, and one of 57 students in the district to be honored Monday night for being named a National Merit Scholar Semifinalist.

He and Jonathon Davies, a senior at La Follette High School, were the only two students in the group with physical disabilities. Greene was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at nine months. Davies was a little older than a year and a half when he was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a nerve disorder that prevents muscle movement.

"Other students have always been very helpful getting stuff out of my bag or picking up pencils," Davies said of his experience with SMA, which has confined him to a power wheelchair since age two.

Davies said education has always been important in his family, but he was surprised when he found out he was named a National Merit Scholar Semifinalist.

"I plan to get the best possible undergraduate education," he said in a speech to fellow scholars, parents and school board members at the ceremony. Greene and two other students also spoke.

Davies said he's still in the process of applying to college and doesn't know yet where he'd like to go.

Greene, also in the process of applying to college, said he plans to study science and its impact on the environment wherever he decides to go.

Like Davies, he said he has found people accepting of his disability and eager to interact with him. He has gotten used to limits in his slower movement and speech as well, he said, but some things have been tough.

Two summers ago, Greene was in a science fair for a research project he had done, but felt self-conscious about speaking.

"I was very nervous and I found it difficult to communicate effectively with the judges," he said.

However, Greene, a peer tutor, math team member and nature enthusiast, said he has other abilities that compensate for that.

"As of right now, I'm pretty comfortable with who I am," he said. "I understand that I'm different, but those differences make me who I am."

Greene, Davies, and the other students will find out next year if they will advance to become Finalists and, possibly, scholarship winners.

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