Impressive Scores from Talented Seniors

Congratulations to two of our seniors, Mary Catherine Adams and Charlie Wessinger, who earned the highest scores out of the Class of 2022 on the SAT. Charlie and Mary Catherine scored in the top 1% of all test takers, scoring high enough to qualify as National Merit Semifinalists.

To celebrate their achievement, we asked some of Mary Catherine and Charlie’s teachers to share insight into their experience with these exceptional students in their classrooms:

Mary Catherine Adams

  • “She constantly works to help her classmates understand when they are struggling. In this way, she embodies both the moral and intellectual virtue ACA seeks in its students.”
  • “She has excelled in math for two important reasons: she has a patient determination that compels her to wrestle with any problem until she finds an answer, and she has a curious imagination that allows her to make connections and predictions about new problems.”
  • “Over the five years I have known her, she has continued to amaze me with her dry wit, wide range of extra-curricular skills, and superb work ethic. Adding yet another feather to her cap, she received an honorable mention in the Georgia Laws of Life Essay Contest last year.”
  • “Not only has she been a splendid Latin student, but, as a leader among her classmates, she has consistently wielded a strong positive influence towards the culture of both her grade and ACA as a whole.”

Charlie Wessinger

  • “I don’t even want to think about what I am going to do to replace him next year.”
  • “So central is the role that Charlie plays in the senior class and in the high school as a whole that everyone seems to assume that he is a member of the student government, even though he is not.”
  • “I have come to know Charlie better than any other student that I have never actually taught. I first became acquainted with Charlie as the champion of ACA’s first-ever National Geographic Bee in 2018, where he made it all the way to the state competition. I have also come to know him through his membership in the Quiz Bowl team, including participation in national championship qualifying competitions. Charlie has also revealed his sense of humor and acting skills through participation in several Coffeehouse comedy skits.”
  • “Charlie’s greatest strength is not academic, but personal. Sure, he gets good grades, he scores well on tests, and the like. But I respect him much more for his unassuming attitude towards his achievements than for the achievements themselves. It is his humility and his humanity which I admire, things that can never be captured in a test score.”