Menomonee Falls student scores near perfect on ACT test

Honors English is a small piece of Amma Otchere's advanced class schedule.

"AP human geography, honors per-calculus, honors chemistry, honors biology," she said of her course-load.

Amma wants to know everything, achieve the impossible. But, what else would you expect from someone was reading at age two?

"In books I would always find out about new things and I just like the feeling of gaining information," she said.

She took the ACT test as an eighth grader, just to measure the wealth of her knowledge.

"In the beginning, I was a little bit against it," said Daniel Otchere, her father. "I thought it was too early for her to do that so I was encouraging her to wait."

"Well, I got a 34," she said.

The achievement is a big step toward Amma's future. The now freshman at Menomonee Falls High, wants to be a neurosurgeon, then the surgeon general.

"It's not a matter of being gifted," Daniel said. "I mean I think she works hard."

Amma's parents are from Ghana, where education is everything.

"My dad has a saying that the best legacy you can leave for your child is education," said mom Linda Otchere. "So that's what we live by."

Amma's hitting the volleyball when she's not studying. There's also tennis and track. She's a busy teenager, who has lots of help along this once-in-a-lifetime journey.

Sue Lee is the curriculum support specialist at the district.

"We're really about goal setting and helping students understand what they need to do to get to those goals," Lee said.

Goals that Amma says are always within reach.
"If you have something you like, you should pursue it because being happy is more important than other things," she said. "Learning makes really me happy."

Amma's future plan is to go to Harvard, but not before trying for a perfect 36 on her ACT test. She may re-take it again as soon as next spring.