Cool kids: David Ross a highly accomplished teen

The first thing about David Ross that captivates a visitor’s attention is the 14-year-old’s composure and articulate speech. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that the Spokane Valley teen has been performing publicly for a long time.

When David was 13, he performed with the all-adult Spokane British Brass band. The band needed a trombone player substitute for the season, and David took over. He toured with the band for a year, performing and competing in the region.

David also plays piano, and has performed at various venues, including weddings and funerals. But music is just a hobby. His true passion is computers.

Before he got a Macintosh personal computer, David had gone to the library and checked out all the books he could read on computer programming. “He reads codes like novels!” his father Perry Ross gushed. “He is crazy about Mac and understood it inside and out before he finally got one this year.”

“Needless to say, the youngster has been writing and designing software and programs nonstop since he got his Macintosh.

But of all the achievements he has made so far, the one that he is most proud of is his Eagle Scout badge. It is an exceptional accomplishment for a boy his age to attain the rank normally achieved by much older Scouts. David, along with other Eagle Scouts, collected 1,620 pairs of glasses in the community to distribute to needy people all over the world.

He credits the project for training him with his leadership and presentation.

“When you are out there knocking on doors and writing letters asking people to donate glasses, you have to present yourself well,” David said.

When the home-schooled teen is not taking journalism classes online, performing trombone or piano, taking apart his computer or doing his algebra, he is riding a snow machine or dirt bike. Being the oldest of four in a tight-knit family, “all the other children follow him,” his parents said. “He makes parenting easier for us.”