By Shannon Rabotski
For the Times
NEW GLARUS — New Glarus high schooler Ellawyn Fong wasn’t expecting to earn a perfect score on her ACT this spring after taking it alongside the rest of the state’s juniors.
In fact, she walked away from the test feeling like it was the most difficult one she’d taken yet. She was in eighth grade when Wisconsin implemented a mandatory ACT for high school juniors, and she began prepping then by taking it in middle school.
But despite telling her mother to not be surprised if she scored lower than in previous years, she was shocked to learn of her actual perfect score, a 36. That perfection didn’t come without practice. Fong has a passion for reading that developed when her mother owned a bookstore in Oshkosh about five years ago and was part of what kept her a vigorous reader.
The average score earned by Wisconsin’s ACT test takers in 2016 was a 20.5, slightly below New Glarus High School’s average of 22.1, according to the state Department of Public Instruction. About one-tenth of a percent of all ACT takers earn a 36.
On top of being an excellent student earning a GPA of nearly 4.0, Fong plays on the New Glarus/Belleville soccer team, the Sugar River Raiders — who just earned their way to the WIAA state tournament scheduled for this weekend — as well as on the 56ers in Madison. She’s also an accomplished musician, having played violin in her school’s pit orchestra this year, and has a summer and winter job at the New Glarus Public Library.
“If something means a lot to you, like soccer does, you have to put it above other things ...”Ellawyn Fong
Despite being kept busy with so many interests, Fong finds time for each of them in order to excel at school, soccer and music. She prioritizes her activities, which sometimes means missing out on other things.
“If something means a lot to you, like soccer does, you have to put it above other things, and sometimes that means you have to miss out on some opportunities in order to do others,” Fong said.
Her ambition and drive at school does not go unnoticed by her teachers and peers.
“When it comes to all of the things that she does, she’s very committed,” said Jeff Eichelkraut, New Glarus High School principal. “She works extremely hard. She works hard with her music, she works hard with athletics, and obviously academics, she’s worked very hard as well.”
Fong has had many role models help her get to where she is today, including her Spanish teacher and soccer coach, who she says helped her grow “on and off the field and in and out of school,” and her mother, Candy, who helped develop Fong’s love of reading and gave her a strong, independent role model throughout her life.
Though she is not yet sure where she is going after high school, Fong has dreams of a career in computer programming.
“I like knowing the mystery behind something,” Fong said. “Like being able to take apart a program and knowing what it’s doing.”
Having previously lived in Massachusetts, Fong moved to New Glarus in sixth grade. Her plans for the future aren’t set in stone; she is looking at schools out East, including Yale University, but is drawn toward the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the alma mater of her parents and two of her cousins, because of its close proximity to home and her family tradition.
She is the daughter of Sam and Candy Fong.