Olds High School Grade 12 student Nolan Moody, 17, scored a perfect 100 per cent mark on his Math 30-1 diploma exam.
Two Innisfail High School students Grade 12 students -- best pals Faith Gette, 18, and 17-year-old Riona Wiberg - also achieved that feat.
Their remarkable achievement was celebrated at the division's board of trustees monthly meeting on April 12.
"It is quite rare for a student to get a perfect score in a diploma exam, said Kurt Sacher, the division's superintendent of schools. "It isn't about perfection but we wanted to honour the uniqueness of that achievement."
Sacher added the division also gets several students who score in the high 90s, and many, many more who also score exceptionally well.
Every student in Alberta who wants to succeed with Math 30-1 is required to write a provincial assessment. Since Sept. 1, 2015 Alberta Education has mandated school marks count for 70 per cent and diploma exam marks make up 30 per cent of a student's final mark in Alberta diploma courses, a change from the former 50-50 formula first introduced in the 1980s.
"It is a pretty elite math course. It is typically for students going on to a math-related field such as engineering or pure mathematics itself," said Sacher of the Math 30-1 course.
"It's not taken by every student, but it is an academically demanding course, so we should be proud of the students and we should be proud of the staff and the teachers from K to 12 who helped set these kids up for success. It is a team effort, and we are really proud of the teacher at Innisfail high. They have really done well."
Moody said it was a "great feeling" to earn the perfect score, one of his greatest achievements to date in his young academic career.
"With great teachers and great parents and the support they gave me this was awesome. Lots of support, and that is what the key is," he said. "It was difficult and there was one question on the math test that really kind of hooked me but I luckily went back to it and got it right."
"It is quite rare for a student to get a perfect score in a diploma exam. In my time I don't recall seeing a teacher having two students get 100 per cent on their diploma exams."Kurt Sacher, superintendent of schools for Chinook's Edge School Division
