Senior Mike Coyle sounds like a rarity on paper, with an ACT score of 35, a 4.52 GPA, is the current Technology-Student Association (TSA) president, Varsity Scholar Bowl Co-Captain, CAD Co-Captain and Strategy lead for the Ratchet Rockers Robotics Team, is an AP Scholar with Distinction, ranked first among the class of 2019, is currently enrolled in multiple weighted courses, volunteers his time as a tutor and a mentor and is bound to study physics and chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. However, as unreal as all of Coyle’s resume sounds, he has recently also added Missouri Scholars 100 to his already impressive repertoire.

“A couple of weeks ago, sometime in February, Ms. Gerringer gave me an application for Scholars 100,” Coyle said. “She told me she gets one application for the senior class every year, so I filled it out, I submitted it and a couple weeks ago, probably two or three, I got something back in the mail that I’d been named one of the Missouri Scholars 100.”

Coyle is the first Liberty student to receive this distinction, which is presented by the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals.

In order to become one of the state’s 100 most accomplished high school scholars, students must apply and meet certain academic requirements in order to join the cream of the crop.

All students who are nominated to become a Missouri Scholar must meet the “Academic Decathlon” requirements which are comprised of 10 “events” or qualifications. Such qualifications include a minimum GPA of 3.75, a minimum ACT score of 29, a top 10% class rank, enrollment in upper-level courses, good attendance and heavy school activity involvement.

In addition to the many requirements of becoming a Missouri Scholar, all students were required to write an essay over a community service that they’ve completed.

And in checking off all of the criteria, the witnesses to Coyle’s work ethic not only describe him as hardworking but motivated as well.

“Always curious to know more,” Dr. Deatherage said of Coyle. “Like he’ll often ask questions beyond like, ‘How does this thing relate to this thing we’ve already done?’”

Deatherage, however, does not only observe Coyle’s work in class, she is also a sponsor and mentor for the same robotics team Coyle serves as CAD Co-Captain and Strategy lead on.

“Absolutely non-stop. Does not take a break,” senior Maya Angeles, who has also collaborated with Coyle on the robotics team, described him.

And non-stop are the correct words as Coyle gears to head off and graduate with the class of 2019 and attend UPenn in the fall. But as for Coyle, the inspiration behind his motivation relates to his past as a student and the future of the others around him.

“Setting an example for my younger brother and my younger sister and really, all the younger kids at Liberty,” Coyle said. “I was not a motivated kid, especially in the first year of high school, but then I kind of found my stride. So doing what I do now I’m hoping that somebody, a kid like me, will look up and be like, ‘Hey, that’s what I should be trying to do.’”