Perfect ACT score? 'It's Duc'

Happiness came to J.S. Aucoin, Morgan City Junior High and Morgan City High last week with the news that one of their own, Duc Bui, beat long odds by scoring a perfect 36 on the American College Test.
Happiness, but not a lot of surprise.
Susan Tregle, the St. Mary Parish school system’s gifted and talented liaison, was Bui’s teacher from first through sixth grade. She remembers that he quickly became a class leader after arriving at Aucoin for kindergarten, even though he was raised in a home in which his parents, Truc and Lien Vu Bui of Morgan City, didn’t speak English.
“When he was in the second grade he got an iPad for Christmas,” Tregle said. “The first thing he wanted to do is watch documentaries.”
They must have been great documentaries. The perfect 36, on a nearly three-hour test of English, reading, math and science ability, puts Bui among the top 2,660 of the 1.4 million students who take the ACT annually. He achieved his perfect score as an MCHS junior.
“I wasn’t surprised,” said Devon Williams, Bui’s teacher in the talented music program. “He’s a hard worker and determined to meet his goals.”
Bui, who plays the flute, has been named to the Louisiana All-State Symphonic Band and earned recognition for academic excellence at the recent Louisiana Music Educators Association conference. He’s also in teacher April Leonard’s talented art group and among 28 students in Stephanie Blanchard’s gifted group.
Even so, teachers say Bui tends to underestimate his own abilities.
“He’s an outstanding student …,” Blanchard said. “He doesn’t give himself enough credit.”
Bui said his friends showed some surprise.
“They were shocked,” he said. “But they were like, ‘So? It’s Duc.’”
One person was surprised. He took the test March 11 at Morgan City High and felt good about the English section. He’d done well in algebra and geometry on the annual LEAP tests.
He’d taken the ACT as a sophomore and got a score of 30, good enough to reach the 93rd percentile. “I knew I had to focus on science,” he said.
On the way home from band rehearsal March 27, he got the word that the ACT scores were out.
“I didn’t believe them,” Bui said. “When I saw MyACT.org, I about had a heart attack.”
It’s a happy time for his teachers.
Bui describes Leonard, the art teacher, as his cheerleader, and jokes that she should be a part-time counselor.
“The talented and gifted is unique in that we can give them more individual attention …,” Leonard said. “In here, I let them dream as big as they want to dream.”
Blanchard guides her group of 28 academically gifted students through enrichment activities.
“They’re very competitive …,” Blanchard said. “It’s a good competition. They motivate each other.”
His plan for now is to become a physician, a goal that has as much to do with his life away from home as with his academic achievements. He has been a translator for family members visiting the doctor.
“The health care realm in general is very appealing,” Bui said.