Sociologists might want to look into a unique situation at Dr. Michael Krop High School by asking this question: does being a twin help a student reach the heights of achievement?
The school's nominees for the Silver Knight Awards are 15 top-notch kids, with one fascinating detail.
"Three sets of twins, never seen it, and they're all brilliant," said the school's principal, Dr. Allison Harley.
Coincidence or what? Two sets are identical, the other two sets are brother-sister combinations. All six feel like a sense of gratitude over being nominated together.
"It's crazy, growing up we did everything together and this is just another one of those steps," said Spencer Steinfeld, expressing a common reality among twins, that they're often inseparable during childhood.
The Silver Knight Awards reward high school seniors for outstanding scholarship and community service, so the nominees are always outstanding students, leaders at their schools.
"When I was announcing the Silver Knights to the whole school, I was like, wait, these are those twins, and I've known these twins for three years, I knew they were amazing, but to think they all made it to this level, it's really special and we're very proud of them" Harley said.
Local
Of course, the twins are brilliant students, but don't assume that because they're twins, they're all alike. Their interests vary greatly, which is reflected in their Silver Knight nominations.
"For years now, I've been working with The Friendship Circle, which is a non-profit that pairs teen volunteers with special needs children," said Brittany Steinfeld.
She's nominated for vocational technology, while her brother is nominated for science. Zlata Itkin's category is English.
"I've always loved reading and writing, my whole element, essentially," Zlata said.
Her twin brother Mark is the polar opposite, nominated for mathematics.
"It works out, I need help with Language Arts, she proofreads my stuff, she needs help with math, I help her out with any of the homework she needs," Mark Itkin said.
Stephanie and Eliza Morton are the identical twins in the group. One is nominated for business, the other for general scholarship, but both could be nominated for diplomacy.
"We collab and build off of each other's ideas so it's definitely a benefit," Eliza said.
"My sister is very organized, she always knows what to do," said Stephanie.
Here's what all 15 know how to do: succeed in school and beyond.
