Luke Richey, a senior at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau, scored a perfect 36 on the American College Testing (ACT) exam.

Richey said he was "very happy" when he received the results.

"I just feel grateful and thankful to everyone who helped me prepare and get there," Richey said.

Paul Unterreiner, assistant principal at Notre Dame, said he wasn't surprised when he heard about Richey's score.

"When it comes to his education, there's nothing that's going to get in Luke's way," Unterreiner said. "He doesn't take his education for granted and that's impressive for any high school senior, but Luke's been like that since freshman year."

Richey said he wasn't nervous when he took the ACT because he had taken the test twice before, scoring a 31 as a sophomore and a 34 as a junior. He said he took some practice tests as well as some online courses through the Khan Academy.

"Most of the actual studying I did on my own, but I got a lot of help from my teachers who taught basically everything that was on the test, especially my math and English teachers," Richey said.

Unterreiner said Richey is humble with a strong work ethic. He said Richey is a member of Notre Dame's Scholar Bowl team and is also a starter on the soccer team and involved in "every club you can imagine."

"Luke's not just focused on academics," Unterreiner said. "He's focused on the mission of Notre Dame High School, managing his efforts well. That he can do all he does and still get his academics taken care of, that's the impressive part."

While colleges may not place the same importance on a student's ACT score, Unterreiner said that doesn't diminish Richey's accomplishment. Richey said he hopes his score will help him with scholarships.

"Scoring a 36 is a very, very difficult feat," Unterreiner said. "For competitive universities, it's a nice little tiebreaker, if you will, a cherry on top."

Unterreiner said Richey's high score comes as a direct result of "An outstanding set of parents that have guided him along the way."

"But, just as important, you can give a young man or woman an opportunity and you can give him all the best of everything, but they gotta take the bull by the horns and want it, and that's Luke for you," Unterreiner said.