A Chicago teenager has earned the highest score possible on the ACT, making him the first student at his school to do so.
Mario Hoover, an 11th-grader, is the first person at Providence-St. Mel School to score 36 on the standardized test used for college admission. He is also a gifted musician with a 3.9 GPA while taking advanced courses.
“I want others to know that they can do the same. I’ve been saying a lot today that we are all capable of more than we think we can do,” Hoover told FOX 32 Chicago.
Hoover attributes his success to hard work and an extra nudge from his teachers who saw his potential. He pushed past a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and figured out the best ways to study. He said he enrolled in an ACT prep course and took practice exams.
The high school junior left Chicago Public Schools for the private school in the third grade after his local elementary school closed.
According to a University of Illinois report, many of the Chicago schools that permanently closed between 2000 and 2013, had a majority share of African-American students. Hoover’s mother was forced to find an alternative school for him. Providence-St. Mel is reportedly one of Chicago’s high-performing schools.
“We have a senior this year who earned a 34 on the ACT this year,” Providence-St. Mel Principal Timothy Ervin said. “We’ve had students earn 34s, 35s, 33s.”
Hoover is the first student in the school’s 42-year history to score 36. He also makes up less than 1 percent of students nationally who have secured a perfect score on the test. Just 0.313 percent of total test takers each year achieve a perfect score, reports PrepScholar.
The academic whiz is also an active member of Providence-St. Mel’s concert choir, and he was recently accredited by the Illinois Music Education Association. He also runs track and is a member of the school’s debate team.
Hoover, who plans to be a neurosurgeon, spends his free time volunteering at the local hospital and Boys and Girls Club. His plans after high school include majoring in neuroscience and minoring in music at Columbia University in New York.
“He is the future of Black history, in the sense that he has made history here in the present, and that’s going to live on forever,” Ervin said.
