Mind-Bending Statistics. Mindful Students.

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, of the 1,300,000 program entrants for the National Merit Scholarship Program, only 50,000 of the highest- scoring participants are recognized as either Semifinalists or Commended Students. In case you are not a “math wiz,” that is less than 4% of entrants. To filter down one step further, from the 50,000 high scorers nationwide, about 16,000 will be named Semifinalists, or only just over 1%.

The senior class at Maranatha Christian Academy is comprised of 61 intelligent, talented, and God-serving students. One of these students, Jackson Mueller, qualified as a Commended Student, or one of the 4% described above. Another senior, Eli Marvel, qualified as a Semifinalist, placing him in the rarified air of the 1.23%. What these two have accomplished is nothing short of impressive, but it doesn’t end there.

While the post-COVID era of standardized test-taking is lower than before the pandemic, students from across the country still take the ACT. As a matter of fact, in 2022, 1,349,644 students took the ACT. The average composite score was 19.8 out of 36. This means that a score of 20 or more puts a person above average, with a score of 28 or higher placing them in the top 10% of scorers. Not surprisingly, to score a perfect 36 is extremely rare. Just 0.25% of all test takers (3,376) earned a perfect ACT score... TWO OF THEM WERE MARANATHA STUDENTS. Both Eli and Jackson “tested positive” with a perfect 36 on the ACT.

You may think these two students have their noses in a book 24/7, but this is not the case. Let’s look at what these two outstanding students have been up to while at Maranatha.

Jackson is in his seventh year at MCA. He is involved  with the High School student council, National Honor Society, high school band, jazz band, Mustang Enterprises, Boy Scouts, and soccer. He plays saxophone, trumpet, and guitar, is an Eagle Scout, and has had the opportunity to serve in many leadership positions in different activities. Outside of school, Jackson loves backpacking, fishing, cycling, scuba diving, and climbing. He has been on many trips, including a 12- day backpacking trip in the New Mexico Rockies. He has a passion for STEM and business and would like to go into engineering and business after college. 

Eli’s resume includes being a Mustang since kindergarten and spans many different areas. One of Eli’s most impressive accomplishments is in the Robotics program. He has been a member of competitive robotics for six years. In that time, the team has gone to State four times (won once) and been a World’s quarterfinalist. He is the head of the build- and- design team and has been a mentor for Middle School Robotics for four years. While he plans to study engineering in college (leaning toward aerospace engineering), he has accomplished much here at MCA. Eli is one of a few high school students professionally certified in Computer-Aided Design (Solidworks) and knows a fair amount of Java programming. He is a part of the Associate of Arts Degree Program at MCA. He  will receive his AA Degree from Bethel in addition to his diploma upon graduating from Maranatha. Additionally, he has taken a total of eight AP classes. He is a member of the National Honor Society, where he is the Treasurer. Eli is also artistic. He plays the tuba in the High School Band and the trombone in the Jazz Band. He has also been a Thespian in Theater productions for the past four years. He does not let his talents stay here at MCA, with over 700 community service hours since his freshmen year and serves in the Audio-Visual department at high school chapel and at his church on weekends. He enjoys reading science fiction and psychology in his little free time. Eli hopes to attend MIT next fall.