Each month, iParenting.com spotlights a teen who inspires and moves us, who embodies the qualities that we all admire in a person, a friend, and a son or a daughter. Above all, the Teen of the Month is dedicated to making a positive mark on the planet. Rich or poor, famous or not, the Teen of the Month shines as an example of what today's teens have to offer.

May's Teens of the Month is Shiv Gaglani, scientist extraordinaire.

To say that our May Teen of the Month, Shiv Gaglani, is interested in science is sort of like saying that cats like milk. He loves science and math so much that he not only excels in both subjects at school, they're his hobbies as well. And keep his name in your memory, because he's coming up with some fascinating theories of building intelligence and improving attention spans that may just be the wave of the future.

Gaglani, a 15-year-old sophomore at West Shore High School in Melbourne, Fla., has always liked science and math. As a child, he constantly wondered about difficult concepts such as how airplanes land and why some people are smarter than others. However, it took his family's moving to America for him to really find the opportunities to indulge his scientific curiosity.

Gaglani's first notable act happened thanks to his parents, Dr. Mukesh Gaglani and Vanita Gaglani. In 1989, Gaglani became the first child of Indian descent born in Namibia, following the dismantling of apartheid. He and his family lived there for a year, then in South Africa until Gaglani was about 7. After that, they moved to America.

When Gaglani was in fourth grade, he was introduced to chess, and both the game and his first teacher made a powerful impression on him. "My first chess teacher is a very successful gastroenterologist, but he told me that as a child he had terrible problems with paying attention," says Gaglani. "Then his babysitter taught him to play chess, and that gave him the discipline to sit down and concentrate. He went on to attend Harvard and become a very successful person."

Not Just a Game
For some reason, that story stayed with Gaglani, and as he got older he started wondering about whether chess may have benefits beyond just being an enjoyable game. Expanding upon his teacher's story, Gaglani theorized that learning chess may help enhance the problem-solving skills of elementary school students.

For a science fair activity in his freshman year, Gaglani recruited 25 elementary school students from grades three through five. All of the children were given a math test that measured pattern recognition, divergent thinking and logical reasoning. Then 15 of the students underwent chess instruction. Afterward, all 25 students again took a math test to measure the same types of knowledge. This time, the chess group scored significantly higher than the control group.

For his work on the project, Gaglani won first place in the category of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the State Science and Engineering Fair. Beyond that, though, he thinks that this type of research can possibly lead to new methods for teaching children in the schools. Furthermore, he's very interested in some theories he has about how chess can help children, like his former chess teacher, who have attention disorders. Although there's no definitive answers at this point, it's curious minds like Gaglani's that can find out.

"Last year in Florida alone, 3 percent of all third grade student were held back because of poor reading scores," says Gaglani. "If something as simple as encouraging participation in chess clubs or teaching chess in school can help, then it's a great tool, especially since children would look at this as a game and be even more likely to really try to master these skills."

As noble as Gaglani's chess experiments are, his most recent interest may help society in a very different way. At the moment, he is participating in research on tissue printing as a protégé of Dr. Thomas Boland, a professor at Clemson University in South Carolina. The research Gaglani is doing is in a branch of biomedical engineering called organ printing. In short, this type of research may someday allow scientists to "grow" organs for patients needing transplants. It's on this type of research that Gaglani has focused for his career aspirations. He wants to become a neurosurgeon and biomedical researcher.

Other Interests
Gaglani is lucky enough to go to a school that allows him to focus on what he's interested in and excels at. Of course, with Gaglani that's everything.

In addition to an impressive course load of advanced placement and honors science and math courses that most students don't take until their senior year – if ever – he's a gifted writer, as well. At the moment, he's one of the teen writers for Florida Today's Verge column. He's also an avid tennis player and says he goes to the beach "nearly every day."

In keeping with his original and abiding scientific interest in the connection between chess and learning abilities, he has started a program to teach chess to elementary school students. He also tutors kids in his own school that may need extra help in some of the more challenging math and science courses.

Although he already is at a point academically where he could make the jump to college, Gaglani is adamant that he wants to graduate with his peers. "I've seen a lot of people who graduate early, but when they reach college, they're pretty immature and can't handle it," he says. "I've known these kids since second or third grade, and I want to finish my schooling with them."

He's surprisingly grounded for such a bright kid, and he gives all credit to his parents for always supporting his interests and trying to answer his questions. "They not only encouraged me in whatever I showed an interest in, but they introduced me to a lot of activities, as well," says Gaglani.

While some of that support was merely in keeping Gaglani supplied with Lego sets, a lot of it was more trying, like the 20-hour roundtrip drives they made to get him to Clemson University so he could continue his research. They never complained, says Gaglani, and his goal is to have that same kind of positive attitude.

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