LAPLACE — Dana Nicholas never has heard her son, Myron, say the words,  “I’m bored.”

Surprisingly, she never has heard him say, “I’m tired” either.

The 12-year-old rising eighth grader at Garyville/Mt. Airy Math and Science Magnet School has a schedule chock-full of activities, and he seems to be excelling at them all.

There’s football and basketball. There’s the junior choir, the senior choir and the men’s choir at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Garyville.

At school Myron is a member of the student council, the Beta Club, 4-H club, Fuel Up to Play 60, the Boys’ Club and the STEM Club. He also maintains a 3.5 grade point average.

This particular summer day was a rainy one, so Myron had a chance to sneak in a few video games in between attending the Saints Junior Training Camp, afternoon football practice then choir practice.

With all that, Myron doesn’t have time to be bored.

“If he does say, ‘I’m bored,’ we’ve got a problem,” Dana said.

Myron is a young man who just likes to keep busy.

“It keeps me out of trouble,” he said. “It makes me stay active.”

Myron, who lives with his parents in LaPlace, comes by all this naturally.

Dana was a standout basketball player at East St. John High under the late coach Troy Giordano on the same team with current University of New Orleans women’s coach Keeshawn Carter-Davenport. Dana also played softball and ran track for the Wildcats.

These days Dana keeps herself busy as a paraeducator at West St. John Elementary School, where she also coaches the volleyball team. She coaches basketball at Lutcher High and even coaches her sons’ basketball and soccer teams.

Dad Myron Sr. played football and baseball in his youth. He now works for the St. John the Baptist Parish Utilities Department and also volunteers as a recreation football coach.

Besides that, just about everyone in the family, even grandma and grandpa, played sports.

“It’s in his blood,” Dana said. “Kids just don’t know what they’re going to like or what they’re going to be good at. You have to put them in things to see if they like them. He’s been playing since he was 4 years old. My baby son (Dayven), he doesn’t like football. He loves soccer.”

Don’t ask Myron to choose a favorite, though. He really did enjoy soccer and baseball, where he played left field. It was the conflicting schedules between him and his soccer-loving brother Dayven, 10, that forced him to cut back on his outdoor activities. He had to give up baseball and soccer — for now.

When asked, if he had to choose between football and basketball, though, Myron said he would want to choose “both,” he said.

When he gets to high school, he wants to add track to the mix.

“I like to run,” he said.

The academics part came easily to Myron as well. His favorite subject is math, but his favorite club is the robotics club.

“You’re building robots with legos and other stuff,” he said.

The singing is just extra.

“I like being with the other people,” he said.

Perhaps someday Myron will have to narrow his focus into one sport or one subject. He is thinking of a career in graphics arts, adding he might like to design video games — for those kids who aren’t as active as this one.