A Perfect Score
Juan Piña aces his Advanced Placement test to join the top 1 percent in the world
Written by Megan Middleton
A Crowley High School senior is not only celebrating a
perfect score on a tough college-level exam but also that
he was among less than 1 percent of students worldwide
to achieve it.
Juan Piña earned the top score of 5 and was one of only
108 students in the world (amounting to just 0.07 percent
of all 2016 Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish Language
and Culture Exam takers) to earn every point possible on
the difficult assessment.
Piña said when he first read the letter informing him
that he earned every point possible on the exam, he did
not think it was true. He still finds it hard to believe.
“I was amazed,” Piña said. “It didn’t feel real at first.
The first thought was I’m going to show my teacher Ms.
Stevenson this, and I hope she’s proud.”
Rebecca Stevenson, Piña’s teacher, said she was surprised
to learn about his perfect score, but also not, because of
the kind of student Piña is.
“He is an extraordinary young man and has an
extraordinary intellect,” Stevenson said. “He is one of
the truly bilingual people. Not many of us are truly that.
He is excellent in English and he is excellent in Spanish
— his speaking, his reading, his writing.”
“
Juan is definitely going to
succeed in this world. Not only
is he very smart, but he’s a
very humble, hard-working,
kind and organized young
man. He’s the whole package.
“
Rebecca Stevenson, Spanish Teacher
on what makes Juan Piña a special student
10 CROWLEY ISD CONNECTIONS | Winter 2016
She said the test is very difficult and includes various
sections, including reading comprehension where
students must read real-world passages from literature
or newspapers and answer questions as well as crafting a
persuasive essay, writing a cultural comparison about a
particular topic and listening to real-world conversations
and answering questions.
“It’s pretty phenomenal,” she said. “It’s an amazing
accomplishment for Juan.”
Stevenson said Piña will succeed in life because he is
not only smart but also humble, hardworking and kind.
Piña is grateful to Stevenson for how she structured her
class and how she prepared her students for the test, he
said.
“I’m glad I could contribute this to the district,” he said.
While it was hard to believe that he scored perfectly,
Piña said the lesson of hard work is one he will take
with him moving forward into college.
“It teaches me, and I hope it teaches other students, that
nothing is outside of your reach,” he said.