On top
Ben Ortengren earns perfect score on ACT
Just weeks after the Medford School District received word of its first perfect ACT score in school history they received word of second local student who also earned the national test’s top score.
Ben Ortengren, a student in the Medford School District’s Rural Virtual Academy (RVA) received word this week that he scored a composite score of 36 on the ACT he took in March. This is the highest score possible on the test. Ben’s parents are Carla Huston and Mike Ortengren and live in Medford.
“Ben has been in the RVA for five years and has always demonstrated an amazing ability to acquire knowledge through his exceptional curiosity and enjoys being challenged academically. With only 0.33% of all ACT test-takers earning a perfect score (The number of students in 2020 who scored a full 36 was 5,579 out of over 1.6 million), this is excellent proof of how intelligent Ben truly is. He also has a great sense of humor and we are fortunate to have him in the RVA! We are very proud of Ben for this accomplishment and are excited to see what his future holds,” said Kathy Alexander, director of pupil services for RVA. Huston said she credits the RVA with much of her son’s success. They had made the decision to move to the RVA in seventh grade. She explains that Ben has ADHD and has an individualized education (IEP) plan as a result .
“It was a situation of a square kid not fitting into the round hole of the traditional brick and mortar school,” Huston said.
Huston said RVA gave Ben the environment in which he could excel. Going into high school he began using the Odysseyware program which is all virtual and allows Ben to work at his own pace rather than having the structure of a set schedule. She also praised his instructors as working with and engaging Ben in his studies rather than focusing on assignments.
“RVA has been terrific,” Huston said. She noted that Ben has always been smart and has tested well, but was surprised at the 36 composite score.
“We are very proud of him,” she said. For the future, Ben wants to pursue studies in ichthyology, which is the study of fish with special interest in inland fish species with the goal of eventually earning his doctorate. Huston noted that the University of Alaska at Fairbanks is considered a top school for this speciality area, however she would like him to consider a school closer to home, noting Lake Superior State University in the U.P. has a strong ichthyology program.
She said they will be looking at schools more this summer.
