Kevin Kelleher Is Grayslake’s Third With Perfect 36 On ACT

Most students and parents would be more than satisfied with a score of 35 on the ACT. Kevin Kelleher of certainly was, and so was his mom, Maureen Kelleher. But she had paid for another test opportunity at as a backup in case he didn’t score as well as he had planned. With mom’s insistence, Kevin took the test again in June.

He came home from the exam and told his mother, who works at the College of Lake County Guidance Department, that he had done terribly. When his test scores were mailed to the house two weeks later, it was confirmed that he had done terribly … terribly well with a perfect 36!

"I never really had a number in mind of what I wanted to score on the test," said Kelleher. "I just wanted to give myself opportunities to do whatever I wanted to do in life."

He scored a 33 on the practice exam he took as a sophomore and then he did hit 36 on the practice exam he took as a junior prior to taking the actual ACT this year. "I just never imagined that I would score a 36 for an actual score. It was very surprising," said Kelleher.

A quiet, modest young man, Kevin appeared unfazed by his stunning success.

"He’s pretty modest about his accomplishments," said his dad, Tim Kelleher, a U of I graduate and accountant.

Kevin played football, basketball and baseball his freshman year, baseball and basketball his sophomore year, basketball his junior year, including AAU basketball in the spring and summer, and as a senior likely will play just basketball.

Kevin and his parents both cite the influence of coaches Todd Grunloh and Brian Hamlett as positive male role models. "Coach Hamlett was the one shouting down the halls that you had scored a 36 on your practice test this spring," mom said to Kevin.

Kevin is also a member of the Student Athletic Leadership Council. He also spent this summer as a plumber’s assistant learning the challenges of real world employment. His boss told him, "Right now you’re getting paid to work from the neck down. Eventually you have to learn that you need to work from the neck up."

The toughest part of the ACT test for Kelleher was the English section. "Because grammar doesn’t come naturally to me," he said. "That was something I had to sit down and learn all the rules, because you talk every day and send text messages and you don’t use it, like when to use a semicolon."

The reading section was difficult because of the time factor and having to get through the sections quickly and thoroughly enough to accurately answer the questions. In his English class, Kevin said his instructor, Patrick Green, was helpful with the practice sessions to prepare students for the test with PowerPoint presentations and a strong knowledge of the ACT format.

As a junior, Kevin took Spanish IV honors, physics honors, advanced placement U.S. history, advanced placement economics, English honors and advanced placement calculus B/C. This year as a senior, he is taking advanced placement government, advanced placement statistics, advanced placement Spanish, advanced placement psychology, zoology and world literature honors.

The University of Illinois (Dad’s school) and Notre Dame (Mom’s school) are colleges in which he is interested. He also has visited Northwestern. He wants to go to a Big Ten school and major in business.

His mom has arranged for the family to go to Notre Dame for a visit during the Air Force football game to give Kevin the full experience and, she hopes, to influence his decision. Both of his parents let him know that if he chooses Michigan, that would be OK, even if they are not such fans of the sports teams.

Kevin’s advice to students who want to do well on the test is to relax. "If you’re not relaxed, you’re probably not going to do well," he said. "If you’re nervous and worry, that is time that you are wasting when you could be focusing and answering questions."

He also highly recommends taking honors and advanced placement classes to challenge yourself as it better prepares you to succeed in college.

Kevin picks up a great deal of information by watching his favorite TV show — Jeopardy.

"He’s always been very inquisitive and asked questions and read. When he was 6 or 7 years old, he would be reading the box scores from the baseball games and memorizing the batting averages and other statistics," said his dad, Tim.

"When they were little I had this series of books called What Every First Grader Should Know, and Kevin would read those. When he was 4 or 5, he was reading What Every Kindergartner Should Know. If he reads something, he retains it and recalls it instantly," said his mom, Maureen.

Tim and Maureen Kelleher also have a daughter, Caitlyn, 19, who is a sophomore at U of I majoring in business, and another son Connor, 15, who is a sophomore at Grayslake North playing football.