DuBOIS – Lindsey Russo, an eighth grader at DuBois Area Middle School, achieved a perfect score on the English Language Arts Pennsylvania System of School Assessment last school year.
Russo was honored for his perfection at a gathering at the school on Wednesday. As far as they know, she is the first in the school’s history to achieve a perfect grade, said Jeannine Anthony, English Language Arts (reading) teacher.
“Perfection is something we should all strive for,” Anthony said during the gathering.
“Some problems are easy to get 100 percent accurate with — a spelling test, a math fact test, and knowing all 50 states of the United States,” Anthony said.
However, she said perfection in other ways is much more difficult.
“Think about the PSSAs for a moment,” Anthony said. “We, teachers and students, spend months preparing for the tediously long exam. Have you ever thought of perfection in such an exhausting endeavor?”
Anthony said Russo not only considered it, but achieved it in April by not missing a single question in the seventh grade of English Language Arts PSSA.
“Lindsey Russo, an eighth grader this year, deserves to be commended, congratulated and celebrated,” said Anthony.
Looking at the stats from 2021, Anthony said she found that out of 90,515 Pennsylvania students who took the test, only three students got a perfect score. The year before, only one student had achieved full marks.
Although Russo was too humble to accept the honor in front of her classmates, students and congregation staff gave Russo a standing ovation for her achievement.
“Lindsey, we admire your hard work, extreme intelligence and dedication,” Anthony said. “Seeing you blossom as a student was an absolute thrill for all of us. They represent the DuBois Middle School leaders of today and tomorrow.”
Anthony said her wish for all the students sitting there is that “they realize that perfection can be achieved with qualities that Lindsey shows us every day.”
Russo said in an interview after the gathering that she strives for perfection in everything she does.
To prepare for the PSSA test, Russo said she usually tries to see or do something to calm her down so she can get a good night’s sleep. She said she started watching a TV show called “I Am Not Okay With This” on Netflix and was very upset by the main character.
“It freaked me out, but I kind of made it through,” Russo said.
After taking the PSSA test her senior year in high school, Russo recalled that as usual she was last to finish the test, but that she thought she was doing pretty well.
“I thought it was incredible,” said Rebecca Russo, Lindsey’s mother, after hearing about her daughter’s performance.
“I was so impressed,” said Rebecca Russo. “And I didn’t realize what a big deal that was until[Deputy Headmaster]Mr. Maholtz and Mrs. Anthony called and told me.”
Lindsey Russo is also the daughter of the late Stephen Russo.
Anthony said there was a total of 63 points in the ELA assessment and included two essays.
Russo said her next goal is to strive for perfection again on her eighth grade ELA PSSA test.
“It can be done, but don’t stress if you don’t do it. Okay?” Anthony said to Russo. “Lindsey is… I say perfectionist, but in a loving way. She pays attention to every little detail, every little detail. And she’s intent on doing the best she can. “
Russo also said one of her long-term goals is to become a film director after she graduates.
“She’s also an incredible storyteller,” said Anthony. “I would have her read aloud as much as possible in class. She’s an amazing storyteller with so much tone and expression and love in everything she does.”