BV student achieves perfect score on AP calculus

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Buckeye Valley junior Luke Jaycox was confident he had done well on his college advance placement calculus test, but he never dreamed he would be one of 18 in the world to achieve a perfect score.

Jaycox said math has come easy for him since he was really young.

“I started out adding stuff together and subtracting things,” Jaycox said. “I’m diabetic. I needed to know how to do some simple math for my insulin. I probably started the simple addition stuff at 3 or 4 years old and I think that kind of helped me out.”

Grey Kovatch, AP calculus teacher, said teachers don’t normally think one of their students is going to have a perfect score on an AP test. “Although I thought if anyone could get a perfect score it would be Luke,” he said.

According to a spokesperson from the not-for-profit organization College Board, 309,315 students took the AP calculus test in May.

“AP Calculus AB is roughly equivalent to a first-semester college calculus course devoted to topics in differential and integral calculus,” according to the College Board AP website.

Kovatch has been an AP calculus teacher for 10 -years and said he has never had a student get a perfect score on the test. He said the test takes three hours and 15 minutes. Half the test is done with a graphic calculator and the other half without one.

“We spent weeks in class in preparation for the test,” Jaycox said. “About 40 people from Buckeye Valley took the test.”

Jaycox said he is a straight A student at Buckeye Valley, but didn’t expect to achieve a perfect score.

“I was just surprised,” he said. “On such a long test there are so many ways you could screw up, you can’t expect something like this.”

What was the feeling when he opened the letter from College Board informing him he had achieved a perfect score? “It just feels cool,” Jaycox said. “I really can’t think of another word than that. I still just can’t kind of believe it.”

Jaycox said he hasn’t decided on what career he would like to pursue or even what his major will be when he enters college.

“I’ve thought about this for a while now and I still haven’t come to a solid conclusion yet,” he said. “If I start as one thing in college I feel pretty confident that I can make the transition if I really wanted to as long as it’s in the STEM field. I’ve been thinking of something in science; like biochemistry or something like that. I’ve also been considering engineering, so I’m not really sure yet. I feel the longer I go the more I will drift toward engineering.”

Luke Jaycox is the son of Dan Jaycox, an engineer and Megan Jaycox, a dietitian.

Luke Jaycox works on homework during his study hall period. Jaycox said he thinks the reason math comes so easy for him is because he had to start using it at a young age.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2016/11/web1_DSC_9517_F.jpgLuke Jaycox works on homework during his study hall period. Jaycox said he thinks the reason math comes so easy for him is because he had to start using it at a young age. D. Anthony Botkin | The Gazette

By D. Anthony Botkin

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D. Anthony Botkin may be reached at 740-413-0902 or on Twitter @dabotkin.

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