Christopher Mears, a senior at Palm Beach Central High School, graduated on Wednesday, May 18, ranked first in the senior class with a 4.0 unweighted GPA, a 5.5882 weighted GPA and a valedictorian/salutatorian GPA of 5.6393.
Although Mears will receive his high school diploma on May 18, he has already earned his associate in arts degree from Palm Beach State College, where he began taking college classes at age 15. He will have a total of 101 college credit hours upon his high school graduation. Although Mears is at the top of his class, according to his family, he will not be valedictorian because the School District of Palm Beach County has a policy which does not allow students who are in the top spot and also doing early admission at Palm Beach State College to be valedictorian.
Mears is a top-performing student in the school district as a whole. He has earned straight A grades his entire academic journey. He has earned the AICE diploma and is being recognized as a Pathfinder Award semifinalist in academic excellence. He is also a National Hispanic Scholar, a member of the National Math Honor Society and the National Honor Society. Mears earned a perfect score on the math section of the SAT, and his community involvement includes math tutoring for high school students and for adults looking to obtain their GED. He also helped organize the Dance Marathon at Palm Beach Central.
Mears will be attending the University of South Florida on a full academic merit scholarship. He received the USF Presidential Merit Award, Tradition of Excellence Award and a Bright Futures Scholarship. He will be studying in the Burnett Honors College and following the BS to MD program majoring in biomedical science. His lifelong goal is to become a cardiothoracic surgeon.
