Emma Pountain, 7, first grade

Published 9:00 pm Monday, February 9, 2004

Computer whiz: Since kindergarten, Emma has been excited about having the world at her fingertips via computers and the Internet. Last year, she led her classmates through a 360-degree virtual tour of a rainforest and showed them how to find information on other landscapes and animals.

"It’s a cool game": Encarta, Microsoft’s seemingly never-ending research software, is Emma’s version of Pacman. The program, which includes encyclopedias, a dictionary, maps and video and audio clips is what she likes to spend her time with. "It’s a cool game," she said. "If you type in an animal, it will get you there."

Little helper: "It’s not just that she’s good at these things, but she’s so willing to help everyone else," first-grade teacher Faith Whetstone said. She’s now lending a hand to her classmates on a computer program that teaches kids how to read, called "Clicker."

Fat rat: Has two pet hamsters — actually "Max" is hers and "Kabota" ("I don’t know how it’s spelled; you can spell it any way you want," she says) belongs to her 4-year-old brother, Ryan. "Mine’s too fat," she said. "My brother’s is not that fat. He likes exploring. He gets out of his cage and goes everywhere."

Just a kid: She likes Nickelodeon and Lizzie McGuire. "She’s my favorite star," Emma said. She also likes sleeping in and drawing horses.

Future plans: "I would like to teach everybody how to do stuff on the computer," she said. "That would be pretty much all."

Know a super kid? Call us at 425-339-3036 or schoolfyi@heraldnet.com.

MICHAEL O’LEARY / The Herald