NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — John Curtis’s Zachary Drake is as close to perfection as one can be on his ACT, toting a 35 composite score. The senior Patriot shows his determination with the academic exam, taking the test three times and raising his score by 10 points from his first attempt to his final exam.
“I was very excited because the past two times I had a 25 and a 29. I was a little bit disappointed, especially in my reading so I really studied hard. I improved that reading to a 35. I got a 35 composite, which was really exciting because my brother got a 34. There’s a little family competition there. I wanted to beat him out for that,” Drake said.
“He comes from a long line of an academic family. His dad was a really good student here back in the ’80s. Older sisters and older brother were also really good students as well so being the baby of the family, he was kind of looking for some bragging rights, trying to see ‘not only am I going to be the best athlete in the family but the best student in the family as well,'” John Curtis Assistant Football Coach Jeff Curtis added.
Drake shows versatility both in and outside the classroom. The senior plays linebacker and defensive end and carries a 3.96 GPA, and although the senior has all the mental and physical tools at his disposal, drake credits his family for his rising score.
“They were very supportive. When I got my act score, he wasn’t like ‘oh man you beat me.’ he was like ‘let’s go. That’s amazing,'” Drake said.
“They had a great relationship with each other. You couldn’t find a better mix of 2 kids that were different but then also were the same as well,” Curtis said.
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