By Thomas Sellers Jr.
High school is not a perfect experience.
Any member of the Class of 2021 could testify to that quickly. A child fortunate enough to graduate this May and June will reflect on a roller coaster U.S. Presidential race, many social laws changing and global pandemic.
From school being shut down at the end of their junior year to the whirlwind of changes this past school year, seniors know nothing is perfect. But there are moments of perfection like when Brighton High School Class of 2021 Valedictorian Ian Keith scored a 36 on the ACT.
On May 20, Keith has the honor of delivering the final speech of the night at graduation. Many will remember his time at BHS for those two major accomplishments, finishing first in his class and the perfect score on the ACT.
“I’ve been working toward this for a long time,” he said. “I was hoping to earn it. When it happened, I was very, very excited it finally, finally happened. And I was also excited because it means I was very close to graduation. They only announce that at the end.
“I’m not sure (which is better), they kind of go hand and hand,” Keith acknowledged. “The ACT score is kind of the metric that counts toward valedictorian. When I got that I was hoping that put me in the lead to cement that. They both were pretty exciting. But if I had to make a choice, I would say the valedictorian was more exciting.”
It’s almost been a year since Keith scored the 36 taking the test the summer before the start of his senior year. Keith was pushed by peers like Jackson Rezach, J.D. Rankin, Sydney Mitchell, Frankie Potier, Lauren Baskin and more.
“The valedictorian serves the entirety of the whole four years of high school,” Keith said. “As for the ACT, it does have four categories. You have to try multiple times. It’s only the four subjects. You do miss out on some of the other things that are involved in high school.
“I’ve really enjoyed some of the classes I’ve taken last year and this year like the advance classes,” he continued. “I’ve enjoyed the advanced English, Maths. I’ve enjoyed having the deeper concepts besides the little stuff you have to do freshman and sophomore years before you get to the harder things.”
Keith said his parents David and Heather were driving forces to his two major academic accomplishments. Then the faculty, staff and administration at Brighton helped guide him to the top.
“My English and Math teachers Dr. Smith and Mrs. Carter,” he noted, “They were very, very helpful. They teach you really well and teach you to think about their subjects and how to learn and grow. Also Mrs. Jackson the counselor over AP classes and that sort of stuff. Whenever I had questions on how it all works, I knew I could go to her and get what I needed, the classes for me to get things taken care of.”
Keith’s next academic stop will be in Searcy, Ark., at Harding University. Hopefully by the time he’s a senior in college things will be close to normal. Knowing things will never be perfect, Keith said the advice from his parents will continue to apply.
“My parents taught me from a young age you have to make sure you’re working hard and make sure you’re learning,” he concluded. “’You have to know this stuff to make sure you can succeed.’”
