KHS students earn perfect ACT scores nationwide

Sienna Staten

Sienna Staten, a senior, is actively involved at KHS as a violinist in the orchestra and a co-captain of the ultimate frisbee team. She earned a 36 on the ACT the second time she took the exam.

“I’ve really loved my time in orchestra,” said Sienna. “Some of my favorite memories in high school are our trips to San Antonio and Chicago. We had a great time at a Medieval Times restaurant in Chicago.”

Outside of KHS, Sienna pursues her passion for the environment, an interest inspired by her parents, Shane and Enid Staten. She has fond memories of visiting national parks during the summer after fourth grade through the Every Kid Outdoors program, an initiative of the National Park Service that provides free admission to fourth graders across the country. During a trip before freshman year, she explored several parks out West, with Arches and Canyonlands in southern Utah standing out as her favorites. Her family continued the tradition when her younger brother Adam was in fourth grade. Adam is now an eighth grader at North Middle School.

Closer to home, Sienna enjoys spending time at Sam A. Baker State Park. In high school, she further developed her interests through outdoor internships at the Shaw Institute for Field Training in 2024 and the Tyson Environmental Research Apprenticeship in summer 2025.

After graduation, she plans to attend a four-year university and will major in engineering for a career in renewable energy. As for her success on the ACT, Sienna credits a blend of test preparation and creative learning for earning a perfect score of 36.

“After my first ACT attempt, I identified the test section I could improve upon most, then focused on that part of the ACT prep book,” she said. “I had also studied some linguistics for my hobby in constructed languages, which helped a lot on the English portion. For math, I really enjoyed the Discrete Math class taught by Mrs. Becker. We explored nontraditional math concepts such as logic puzzles and the fourth dimension.

Sienna has attended Kirkwood Schools throughout her entire educational journey, starting at Kirkwood Early Childhood Center, then Tillman Elementary, North Kirkwood Middle School and now KHS. Her advice to her fellow students: “Learn for the sake of learning. Having great teachers and being genuinely interested in my classes helped more than any official ACT prep.”

Luka Artomov

Luka, a sophomore at KHS, is already making his mark both academically and through extracurricular involvement. He received a 36 the first time he took the exam. He first took the ACT in October 2025, after preparing by completing practice tests.

“When I was taking the practice tests, I was getting 35s and 36s,” said Luka. “I felt confident going in, but you can never really be sure until the results are in.” He credits his strong foundation in English, built through both middle and high school classes in Kirkwood, for helping him master grammar concepts that proved essential on the exam.

Luka is an active member of the KHS Math Team and Mock Trial team. Both teams are headed on to big things later this school year. The KHS Math Team is competing in the state competition at the University of Missouri - Columbia on April 25. Then, in May, Luka will represent the KHS Mock Trial Team as a student attorney at the national level in Des Moines.

He really enjoys both groups and considers the KSD Elementary Equations event, hosted by the KHS Math Team, as one of his favorite memories this school year. Outside the classroom, Luka’s passion for math and science is deeply rooted in his family. His parents, Dr. Yulia Ivanova and Dr. Maxim Armov, both work in scientific fields. His father is a research professor, and his mother develops vaccines. Luka attended the Clayton School District before joining Kirkwood in sixth grade at North Kirkwood Middle School. His younger brother, Kuzma, is an eighth grader at North Kirkwood Middle School.

He values the logic and precision of math, appreciating that “there’s a clear answer and a solution,” and is currently enrolled in AP Calculus AB and AP Statistics. While still early in his high school journey, Luka is already considering a future in math or physics at the college level.

His advice for students preparing for the ACT: “Answer one problem, then fill in the corresponding bubble. Solve it. Bubble. Some people think doing all the problems first is better because it doesn’t break your concentration, but this method worked for me.”