Feb 4 2012: Though I myself am agnostic, a great example of a theist scientist is Eisenstein. A great counterexample is Stephen Hawking. I know this wont help much at all, because I was in your exact position, but what I did was gave up. I "believe" in science, but if someone can give me some pretty dang good proof that any religion is correct, I will follow that religion. You may want to look into physical and metaphysical cosmology; there are many theories about what was "before" the big bang, but in most religions, the earth was just made. This, of course, could easily be adapted to suit the facts we already know. Some people think that the universe cycles, some think that 12th dimensional membranes collide and make a universe, still there are many other theories.
Feb 4 2012: Eighth, but I do understand that. Sorry, I may not have expressed correctly: My point was, purely for the intellectual aspect, more advanced kids need more advanced work. They can deal with it, and will far exceed standard expectations if they are provided with a fun way of doing this work. For example, my humanities class is taught in three ways: notes, reading, and simulations. While taking notes, the teacher is engaging. When reading, we often read primary sources or literature reflecting the politics of the era we are discussing. Simulations is just what it sounds like. We play out the civil war on a game board, and we learn to march. We are required to act for two months as soldiers otherwise we lose "combat points". In science, the teacher always brings something to demonstrate the concepts. For physics, we have made bottle rockets, and the teacher has used a Frisbee and a gun to demonstrate newton's laws. The mentors are a huge part of our success, because they keep us involved and progress quickly through curriculum.
Feb 1 2012: The most amazing girl showed up. Nothing intimate, just a friend. But she asked a simple question to me: "So you basically feel the same all the time?" I thought about it and realized I didn't. I felt very passionately about many things, but I ignored that, as though I had drawn a veil between me and my emotions. I realized it was there and tore it down. I was happy, and more relieved than I had been in years.
Feb 1 2012: I myself am a "bright" student. I score among the 99th percentile in Math, Science, and Reading tests. I am currently in a program specifically designed for students like myself. Everyone in the program tested in the 97th percentile or higher, so the teachers use material many (grades) above our level. We, as 6th graders, learned Algebra I and were taking a (supposedly) college-level course. We, whenever we can, discuss whatever interests us, which in almost all cases is someone's brilliant theories in the field of cosmology, or someone else's newest computer program which they made themselves. If someone were to listen to these students' approaches to a problem there would be no worries for prices of inventions, no need to have a team of the greatest minds to solve a problem. Just propose it to the kids. The point is, kids who are intelligent talk about intelligent things. If you have all that great conversation, you have a great resource for practically anything.
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A comment on Conversation: Roughly 52% of the world's population is under 30. What is best way to harness the energy and ideas of youth?