Mason Butler, a seventh-grade student at Clements High School, was recognized by the Duke University Talent Identification Program at the University of Alabama Monday for earning a 23 on his ACT.

Seventh-grade Clements High School student Mason Butler was honored by the Duke University Talent Identification Program at a ceremony Monday at the University of Alabama. He was among approximately 150 Alabama seventh-graders in the state who were recognized for their exceptional scores on the ACT or SAT.

Butler scored an unheard-of 23 on the ACT, making him part of an elite group of students selected by the Duke TIP 7th Grade Talent Search.

Along with being recognized by one of the nation’s premier universities, Butler now gets the opportunity to spend his summers at Davidson College in North Carolina, where he will take college-level courses while earning college credits. This summer, Butler will get to take a cryptology and codebreaking course while getting a taste of college life by staying in a residence hall.

Jessica Loughary, Butler’s mom, recognized early on that her son had a knack for learning.

She noted Butler and his twin sister, Mykenzi, loved to read even as preschoolers, but his math abilities began to shine during kindergarten.

“He would take top average in almost in every one of his classes in his grade,” Loughary said. “But he could solve math problems like nothing. It just came so natural to him.”

Butler’s performance impressed Clements teacher Pam Fowler so much, she invited both Butler and his sister to become part of the gifted program at the school.

Butler thrived in the gifted class, earning a score at or above the 95th percentile on his grade-level standardized tests.

This caught the attention of Duke TIP, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving academically talented youth by providing them with opportunities like the summer higher education program at Davidson College.

Butler, who isn’t sure what he wants to be when he grows up, plans on learning as much as he can during his time at Davidson.

“I haven’t settled on anything yet, but I love math and science,” Butler said. “Who knows, maybe I’ll come across something I’ve never heard of before and want to go into that.”