PEHS Student Gets Perfect ACT Score

Treating the ACT college entrance exam as if it were no different than any other test is, apparently, a pretty good strategy for success. 

At least it was for Plainfield East High School senior Javier Suarez, who earned a perfect 36 on the high-stakes college entrance test. 

Suarez is the first District 202 student to score a 36 on the ACT since at least 2007, and appears to be the only District 202 student to achieve the honor on last spring’s test. 

The ACT company will not confirm individual scores until it late summer when it releases building-level data. Internal data indicate, however, that Suarez was the only student to score a 36. Nor could the ACT company say how many students earned perfect scores on last spring’s test. However, in 2010, only 588 students nationwide, including only 90 in Illinois, posted a perfect score.

Although he is proud of his accomplishment, Suarez said he wasn’t totally surprised when he learned of the achievement.

“I’d taken a practice test through school and one [practice test] at home, and actually the test wasn’t terribly hard,” he said. “So I did feel fairly confident.”

Suarez didn’t feel a lot of pressure to do well on the ACT, despite its significance in students’ lives.

“I’ve been at that high standard [of academic achievement] for a while so I felt the pressure of meeting that standard,” he said.

Rather, he purposely tried to lighten the weight of the ACT by treating it “like any other test,” Suarez said.

“I guess it worked,” he added.

PEHS Principal Tony Manville praised Suarez for excelling at more than just academics.

“Javier is not only a great student but he is a great person,” Manville said. “He is exactly the type of kid you would want as your own child — he cares about people, he is a good family member, and he works hard at his studies. He is exactly what PEHS is trying to teach all of our students to embrace.”

“It is one thing to be very smart like Javier. We have many very smart kids in our building. But it is even better when it comes to Javier, because of the type of person he is outside of his studies. We are very proud to have him at PEHS.”

Suarez has been active in numerous student organizations including student council (he will be president this fall); the National Honor Society; varsity tennis; and the Bengal Athletic Leadership Club, among others. 

He also volunteers weekly at Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital in the emergency room department, and plans to take part in the National Student Leadership Conference at Northwestern University for medicine this summer.

Suarez has had the highest grade point average at PEHS each of the last three years — including a 5.77 on a five-point scale this past year. He said he plans to study medicine at the University of Chicago or Northwestern University, hoping to become a neurologist.