RESERVE — Emani Payne is only 12 years old, but she has some big shoes to fill.

The youngest daughter of Aretha and Darryl Payne of Reserve, Emani certainly is expected to follow in the footsteps of her older sisters: Casey, 25, who recently earned her degree in pharmacy, and Brittany, 21, who is studying microbiology and infectious diseases at Southeastern Louisiana University.

“Definitely, I look up to both of them,” Emani said. “They both are incredible successes and I hope to be somewhat like them.”

But the baby of the family just might outgrow those shoes as she goes on her own path.

A sixth grade student at Fifth Ward Elementary School, Emani has been the St. John the Baptist Parish Schools Student of the Year. She has won the district’s spelling bee since she was in kindergarten and advanced to the third round of the New Orleans Spelling Bee last year (despite being given the wrong list of words to study).  A talented young artist, she once was the district’s winner in the annual Christmas card drawing contest.

Her most recent achievement, however, is even more special. She was one of only five St. John students to receive a perfect score on the LEAP test. What sets her apart, though, is she reached perfection on the Math (850) and the Science (500) portions.

“That’s rare to get a perfect score, and she did it on two components,” said Fifth Ward principal Drenean Brown. “We are very, very excited about that. She is an exceptional student.”

Emani said she has always done very well in math and science, as well as on tests. Putting it all together, she said, was little trouble.

“All I did was just implement what my previous teachers had told me and what they have taught me,” Emani said. “Math and science are my favorite subjects so, obviously, I pay more attention in math and science. My main homeroom teacher was a math and science teacher, so most of my day was spent on (that). We would always learn different mathematical equations that involved fractions and decimals.”

English, she said, was the hardest part.

“She got an 822 out of 850,” her mother interjected. “She was pretty close there too.”

Emani said she likes dealing with numbers better.

“It’s just the numbers and all the different combinations of them,” she said. “It’s wonderful.”

Science appeals to her because she likes to learn how things work. She carries that love over to the STEM program (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and the robotics team. Someday she hopes to be an engineer or a doctor.

“I like finding out new things,” she said. “Most of life is science.”

Emani and her family recently learned a hard lesson about life when dad Darryl died after a long illness. The death shook the little family.

“The last couple of days have been a mix of emotions — happy, sad,” Emani said. “It’s been all types of stuff, confusing, but I accept it.”

Aretha said Darryl was close to all three of his children and would expect them to be strong and excel.

“Definitely, that’s what he would want,” Aretha said. “All he talked about was ‘my girls.’”

Brittany said they want their little sister to forge her own path, however.

“We try to support her,” Brittany said. “I can understand why she said she wants to be ‘somewhat’ like us. I don’t want her to just follow in our shoes. We want her to have her own path and do what she wants to do and be happy.”

When she’s not dealing with numbers or scientific facts, Emani finds joy in drawing. She is a part of her school’s talented art program. Her winning entry in the Christmas card contest was a Cajun Christmas scene, with a crawfish, an alligator and a catfish seated at the same table. She was in second grade.

“I like drawing landscapes and experimenting with all types of different colors,” she said. “I love finding out different types of shapes to use and how I can use those to make different things.”

Said Brown: “Emani is very quiet. She keeps to herself, but she is a model student and a leader in the classroom.”