27

That is Will's score on his first try at the ACT.

I think it is pretty fantastic!  He out-scored both his Dad and his sister, and this was just his first try, going in cold turkey.  Most kids naturally improve their score by about 2-3 points on their second try just by being more familiar with the testing procedure.  He probably beat me, too, but since I never took the ACT, I guess we'll never know.

That's right.  I never took the ACT.

I took the SAT.  I'm sure the scores are floating around the scrapbook pile somewhere.

Will plans to take the ACT again in the fall and hopes to get a 30.

It is gratifying to see test scores that verify what I've known all along...

Will is one smart kid!  He has the high intelligence and IQ that will allow him to be whatever he choses to become in life.  Not everyone is so blessed.

He actually does not do well in school.  His grades are average, or even below average.  There will be no scholarships waiting for him upon graduation.  He simply does poorly in a traditional academic setting.  It doesn't have to be that way.  He could succeed if he put his mind to it and decided it was something he wants.  That is frustrating to me.  He has no desire for academic achievement.  He puts up with school for my sake.  I want him to go to college, but I have a hard time visualizing him as successful in traditional college classes based on his high school performance.  Still, I hope he does go, and I know he can be successful at it... if he has the right frame of mind about it.

Last year his math teacher tried to limit our registration choice to College Prep Math (instead of Pre-Calculus) due to his grades.  I had to go in and see the counselor about it.  His counselor took one look at his test scores (not the ACT, but the state core tests) and agreed with me... that Will needed to be in Pre-Calculus.  The counselor was able to bypass the math teacher's meddling and unlock the registration for us.  Will's grades in Pre-Calculus are not great, but he definitely has learned a lot in that class this year.

So have I.  I have done all of Will's homework side by side with him this year.  You see, I never took Pre-Calculus, or Calculus.  I got sidetracked into a College Prep style math course in high school, myself.  In fact, while in college, I took TWO YEARS of college French in order to avoid one class of advanced mathematics.  Stupid, huh?  There I was, conjugating verbs, reading French literature, and writing essays in French (oh, the agony) for two freaking years just to avoid learning one semester of what turns out to be really awesome math stuff!  Yeah, I'm a special kind of stupid.

Anyways, this turned into quite a ramble of a post.  I'm proud of you, Will.  You are one smart cookie!