Whiz Kids: Benton and Rhodes Kleiber

Each week, Athens Patch will seek suggestions from readers for individual kids, youth groups, teens, and sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments.

Name: Benton and Rhodes Kleiber

Age: 6

Grade: 1st

School: Timothy Road Elementary

Accomplishments: When people see identical twins, they are often lumped  together as The Twins. Benton and Rhodes Kleiber, however, are two very individual rising first graders at . Rhodes and Benton are the sons of Emily and Ryan Kleiber and the little brothers of sister Kate Kleiber. This past year was the first that the boys were in separate classrooms at school and both were receipients of "Best All Around" awards for their classes.

Benton enjoys dancing and throwing the football with Ryan at the UGA Intramural Fields. Rhodes is an accomplished cyclist and avid artist. Benton's favorite sport is tennis while Benton prefers golf and football. Benton and Rhodes played soccer for Athens United this past spring and had a great time playing a team sport together.

Both boys love to read and write at school. It's been wonderful for them to be in the same school as Kate, who's a rising third grader. Rhodes and Benton only have positive things to say about having a big sister. Emily and Ryan give Kate a lot of credit for helping the boys with big milestones like potty training. Benton succinctly summed up Kate's help by stating that an advantage to having a big sister is that "she can tell us what to do." Kate is happy in her role as older sibling and proudly admits she "taught them about adjectives."

This summer, both Rhodes and Benton have enjoyed a trip to Dallas, Texas, to visit family as well as Vacation Bible School at their church, . Emmanuel is home to the family for many reasons. All three children attended Emmanuel Episcopal Day School where Emily teaches preschool. The boys are known to be very kind to younger children at church.

This active family lives in a quiet neighborhood with lovely streets for cycling. All three children have enjoyed cheering on Ryan and Emily when they participate in triathlons. Benton helps Emily with tips on her cycling while Kate provides coaching in regards to swimming strokes.

Narrowing down a favorite Athens eatery was a tough assignment for Benton and Rhodes. After much debate, they decided to recommend cupcakes from Gigi's. The cupcakes are a favorite after lunch at . Rhodes plans to play on the UGA Tennis Team in college and make books for a living as an author. Benton wants to play football and work as a football coach for UGA and the Atlanta Falcons.

Key to Awesomeness: Rhodes and Benton are overall kind boys who are good natured and very enthusiastic about life! Don't let their identical features fool you; these boys are interesting individuals with distinct personalities.

We want to hear about amazing youth in Athens and select one each week as the Whiz Kid. Submit your nomination in our comment box below or email the information to rebecca.mccarthy@patch.com Be sure to include all of the following information:

• Nominator's Name
• Nominator's E-Mail
• Whiz Kid's Name
• Whiz Kid's Age
• Whiz Kid's School
• Whiz Kid's Accomplishment
• Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness (what made him/her successful? Please include a 150-word description)

This is a nice way to highlight young people in Athens. Athens Patch will try and feature as many students as possible.