WHS student earns perfect 36 on ACT
Cal Craven
Nicholas “Cal” Craven is the third Westlake High School student this year to earn a perfect 36 on the ACT.
Less than one-tenth of 1 percent of all test takers earns a perfect score on the ACT. Among ACT-tested U.S. high school graduates in the Class of 2014, only 1,407 out of 1.85 million students earned a perfect 36 on the exam.
Cal, a WHS senior, is a National Merit Semifinalist, an AP Scholar, a top 10 finalist in the 2014 National High School Architecture Competition, a first-place district champion in the Math Equations Contest as a 7th and 8th grader, and a third-place winner of the MAA American Mathematics Competition in 2011. He also earned several awards in the Student Model Home Design Contest of Northeast Ohio, including Best Model and third-place overall design in 2014, and best presentation and third-place overall design in 2013.
He earned a Symphonic Band music award in 2012, named Varsity Tennis SWC Conference MFB for 2014 and was a Varsity Tennis SWC Conference Second Doubles Champion his freshman year.
Cal is a member of Math Counts, French National Honor Society and National Honor Society, Key Club, the varsity tennis team and the Ultimate Frisbee Club. He was recognized by the Kiwanis Club of Westlake for excellence of scholarship his freshman, sophomore and junior years. He received the Ohio Tennis Coaches’ Association Silver Racquet Award for excellence in academics and athletics in 2014.
Since 2013, Cal has represented the WHS student body on the Citizens Advisory Council by attending weekly meetings, presenting project proposals and implementing a website for students to streamline the college application process. He also volunteers at Westlake Porter Public Library’s Homework Help Center and Fairview Hospital. He was part of the Easter basket service project with the men’s WHS tennis team last year and was a Westlake Recreation Center special education softball instructor.
Cal is undecided about which college he will attend, but he is looking at engineering schools and plans to study chemical engineering.
The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale of 1-36, and a student’s composite score is the average of the four test scores.