PRAIRIE GROVE -- A sophomore from Prairie Grove High School has earned the top score on the ACT.
Roy McKenzie, 16, took the national college entrance exam in December, the same day as Har-Ber High School senior Alex O'Brien, who also earned a 36 on the test.
McKenzie took the ACT for the first time in the seventh grade and earned a 29. He took the test again in September, earning a 34. With his score being so close to a perfect 36, he decided to give the test another shot, he said.
Fewer than 1 percent of students nationally who take the exam earn a 36 composite score, ACT spokesman Ed Colby said. Last year, nine Arkansas students earned a 36 among 26,821 in the Class of 2014 who took the test.
The exam consists of four multiple-choice tests in English, mathematics, reading and science, Colby has said. Each test is scored on a scale of 1 to 36. The composite score is the average of the four test scores, so it is possible for students to achieve a 36 without making the top score on each portion.
McKenzie's 36 was derived from two scores of 35 and two scores of 36.
"I didn't change the world or anything," he said. "It certainly helps out. It looks good to schools."
As a sophomore, McKenzie hasn't decided on a career path or what college he plans to attend. He's considering graduating at the end of his junior year to spend the next year studying and traveling, possibly to Spain and San Francisco.
"I like to do a little bit of everything," he said. "I love political science and government. I love chemistry and math and science. I love playing music and writing songs."
He doesn't study all the time, but loves to learn so much that he will watch lectures available online through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and do the homework.
At one point, he wanted to learn physics, so he found an online MIT course on the subject that led him to begin learning calculus and trigonometry.
"I like to see how it all works and fits together," McKenzie said.
McKenzie enjoys music and plays the guitar, trumpet, bass, drums, trombone, piano, organ, clarinet and flute. He plays in the Prairie Grove band and jazz band. He's in honor choir, Quiz Bowl and National Honor Society. He founded and is president of a Young Democrats club. He's taking a world literature class at the University of Arkansas.
The more challenged McKenzie is the happier he is, his mother Sarah McKenzie said.
"We just try to stand out of his way and let him do whatever he needs to do," Sarah McKenzie said, referring to her husband Mike.
She described her son as an active, curious learner who loves to learn for fun.
"He's extremely motivated internally," she said. "He's just always been like that. He does his own thing and wants to continue to seek new challenges."
McKenzie has a reputation for being a smart student, but he surprised some classmates and teachers with his personality and musical talent by performing three acts during a talent show last spring, said Mandy Hunt, a counselor at Prairie Grove High School.
"There's no limit to what he can accomplish," Hunt said. "It's fun to think about where he's going to be in 10 years."
McKenzie is a rare student who challenges teachers with his intelligence and maturity, said Dustin Seaton, the district's gifted and talented coordinator.
McKenzie took Algebra I in the seventh grade, followed by high school level geometry in eighth grade, Seaton said. Seaton taught McKenzie an independent study course focused on concepts in college-level philosophy.
"Once you start a topic, it's never-ending," Seaton said. "I myself am challenged academically and intellectually to make sure I'm at least one step ahead of him. He absorbs everything he's learning."
NW News on 01/31/2015