By David Seale

This fall, 14 Jemison Middle School seventh graders were invited to take part in the Duke University Talent Search, whereby they took the ACT.
This is the exact test high school students take for college admission. The test measures students’ abilities in four areas: English, reading, math and science, with a 36 being the highest score possible.
Six JMS students scored high enough in certain competencies for their scores to be deemed “college-ready”: Tylor Curtis, Gilberto Flores, Brady Graves, Brandon Harris, Derek Millard and Macey Thompson. These students all had one or more ACT benchmark scores, mostly in English and reading.
Harris had the highest composite score, 22—high enough to qualify for admission to the University of Alabama and Auburn University, to name just a couple.
Other students invited to take part in this prestigious program were Evan Baird, Griffin Burnette, Christian Gilliland, Grant Martin, Trent Ray, Christopher Robertson, Jessica Smitherman and Maggie Zhang.
The program is facilitated on the school level by seventh grade English teacher Karen Jones.

David Seale is the assistant principal of Jemison Middle School.