7 local students earn perfect ACT scores

Also, Ohio’s class of 2012 beats national averages in scores and participation.

In the last year, seven local high school students were among 56 from Ohio to earn perfect scores on the ACT.

“According to the ACT, only one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the test annually receive this score,” said Matt Sableski, Carroll principal. “Seven from the Miami Valley is pretty awesome.”

That group includes seniors Constance Fung and Alexander Hamlin from Beavercreek High School, recent Centerville graduate Shirin Ann Dey, Oakwood senior Sophiaj Cothrel, Kettering Fairmont junior Andy Kremer, Carroll senior Zach Schwab and junior Jason Demeter from Northwestern High School in Springfield.

Demeter and Kremer were the only students in this group to ace the national test as sophomores, and the only students in each of their schools’ recent histories to turn in a perfect exam.

“I have checked with our teachers here and cannot find anyone who remembers a Fairmont High School student who has earned a perfect 36,” Principal Dan Von Handorf said. “We have had a number of 35’s, but don’t remember any 36’s.”

Added Northwestern Principal Lori Swafford: “As far back as 15 years ago, NWHS has not had a student receive a 36 on the ACT.”

The ACT, which was founded in 1959, was called the American College Testing until it was shortened to just its acronym in 1996. The ACT tests students in English, math, reading and science, with an optional writing component.

The National Association for College Admission Counseling lists the ACT and the SAT, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, as the primary standardized tests used across the country by colleges and universities to help determine undergraduate admission.

Among the 2012 graduating class, the parameter by which the ACT consistently assesses annual data, Ohio students fared better than the national average in participation and test scores.

Seventy-one percent of Ohio’s class of 2012 took the ACT and scored a total composite average of 21.8 points out of a possible 36. Across the country, 52 percent of the class of 2012 took the ACT and averaged a composite score of 21.1.

The number of students who take the ACT, which has more content and curriculum-based questions, and the SAT, which focuses more on problem-solving and critical thinking, are comparable.

In the 2011 graduating class, the last data available for the SAT, 1.65 million students took the SAT, compared to 1.62 million for the ACT.

For the 2012 class, the ACT reported more than 1.66 million test-takers and for the first time in its history exceeded the halfway mark in participation with 52 percent of the class taking the test.

Among that graduating class, 36 students earned perfect scores and just two were from the Miami Valley. Both of those students, Dey and Olivia Rogers, were from Centerville High School.

The other six local students who earned perfect scores since last September are members of the class of 2013 and 2014, and their scores will be counted toward that data when it is released.

Also notable in this most recent group is that two Ohio high schools each had four students earn perfect scores: They were Dublin Coffman, north of Columbus, and Solon, which is southeast of Cleveland.

Von Handorf said earning a perfect ACT score is a tremendous honor for any student and school district.

“We are extremely proud of Andy, his family and our staff for earning this achievement,” he said.

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