Mon, April 1, 2002 Ahead of his class Local student to graduate high school, college at same time Ann Work, , Times Record News Noah Wilkes' academic achievement is so unusual it doesn't even seem possible.    This spring, he graduates at the age of 18 not only from Bright Ideas Charter School - his high school - but from Midwestern State University, too.    Starting at the age of 13, he capitalized on the innate flexibility of the Bright Ideas curriculum to accelerate his high school career. He's taken so many MSU courses during the last five years that he finished his college coursework just in time for his high school graduation.    He tested out of most of his high school class work.    At MSU, Noah graduates with a math major and physics minor. After that, he's headed to Texas Tech in the fall, where he's already been accepted into a graduate degree program for semi-conductor product engineering.    The lucrative degree program will pay him $2,000 a month to attend school.    "He's a smart young man, but more than anything, he's been given opportunities, and he's made the most of them," Kitty Wilkes, his mother, said. Kitty has her own master's degree from MSU and works at Bright Ideas as director and adviser for its concurrent students program. She helps streamline the transition from high school work to college coursework for able students like her son.    Noah pursued his passion for math as he worked his way through Cunningham and Washington-Jackson Elementary schools. He excelled at Kirby Junior High's math/science center. During the summer following eighth grade, he finished a summer math institute at the University of North Texas in Denton.    That presented a problem.    "He'd basically finished all the math that he could have gotten in high school," Kitty said. "None of the public schools had the flexibility that would allow him to go on into college and continue in their high schools."    Wilkes knew Lynda Plummer, Bright Ideas founder and principal since 1985, and decided to give her school a try. "Public school does a great job teaching kids right and center. I don't think they can do as well with the kids at the edges - the really gifted kids or the kids that need extra help. Since Bright Ideas is small, it can develop a tailor-made school program for any kid that walks in the door," Kitty said. "That's certainly what they've done for Noah."    By moving on to MSU, Noah began taking classes in algebraic structure, math statistics, college physics, and thermal dynamics.    At 6'3", Noah blends in with the college crowd. But he said being five years younger than the rest of the MSU students was never a big deal. "It was awkward in the beginning, but I've always had friends out there," Noah said.    Half of Bright Ideas' 92 students are, like Noah, taking MSU courses along with their high school work. As part of the concurrent program, MSU classes also count for high school credit. "Anything that they can take at college for high school can count for both," Plummer said.    Plummer passionately believes that boredom is every student's enemy. "If a child (is bored at school and) has to go day after day, year after year, many gifted kids go into a deep depression. Many try to commit suicide."    Failing to challenge creative children is the same as telling them that they don't matter, Plummer said. "I tell them, 'Go on, get out of high school.' Otherwise they'll turn off to academics and turn on to the social life. Especially girls. It's not popular to be smart."    Plummer said Noah was an exceptional student, but that no one knows any student's limits. "Anybody can do more than what they were doing before," Plummer said. "Nobody knows the capacity of the human brain. We follow the child. If the child can do more, we give them more. That's what (Noah) wanted."    Plummer said others can do what Noah's done. "He just pushed the envelope of what we at Bright Ideas have come to expect that kids can do. What Noah has proved is that none of us know what kids can do when you remove the barriers."    Education reporter Ann Work can be reached by calling (940) 763-7538 or by e-mail at worka@wtr.com.