Magnetic minds
Courtney Sunden “It totally opened my eyes.”
Courtney Sunden is an eighth grader at Bridger and has been accepted to the Ed W. Clark High School Academy of Math, Science and Applied Technology, where she plans to continue studying biomedicine. It’s a long way from where she was in fifth grade — struggling with math textbooks. “On my CRTs (standardized tests) in math in fifth grade, I got a very low score. Gradually, from sixth to seventh grade at Bridger, it increased. I almost got a perfect 500 in math on my CRTs in seventh grade. So, there was a dramatic increase in my ability to learn.”
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It’s perhaps a counterintuitive notion in this age when teens are plugged into iPods and obsessively texting friends, but Sunden says — surprise — she values learning. “I have a good friend who’s not in a magnet. Between fifth grade and now, from what I’ve seen, I focused more on academics, while she’s still focusing on her social life.” Besides, she’ll have time for that later, right? Okay, maybe not. “My main career choice is becoming a general doctor in the ER. My other choice is medical examiner. Once I got to sixth grade and got into Mr. Studer’s (biomedicine) class, it totally opened my eyes. I realized I want to do this for the rest of my life.” — H.K.