2008 Winning the genetic lottery

On January 3 USAToday ran a story which followed up on 19 years of winners of the "High School Academic Team." The group selected in 2005 represents the 20th year the paper has featured this program which includes a scholarship, a trophy and a story in the national newspaper.

Although the winners came from many different backgrounds, they often shared certain things in common: "educated, committed parents, some wonderful teachers and mentors, high expectations and the opportunities to pursue their passions." Of the 72% of the 378 winners who responded to the survey of the winners,

• 94% said they grew up in homes with both a mother and a father.

• 57% of their fathers had doctorates, and 58% of their mothers had a master's degree or doctorate.

More than 95% of the fathers and 91% of the mothers had at least a bachelor's degree, and 100% of the parents had at least a high school diploma.

• In 43% of the families, only one parent worked outside the home for the majority of the student's school years.

In the survey, parental involvement/influence was rated "very important" to their high school success by 81% of the respondents — slightly more than "personal work ethic" (79%), "finding an activity I was passionate about" (77%) and "a great teacher or mentor" (74%).