Hinkley student scores perfect on state test

HINKLEY — Hinkley Elementary School second grader Rainna Heggenberger was apprehensive prior to taking the state test last year.
She thought she would do bad and was worried about a bad score.

When Rainna, 8, received the results of the STAR test, which stands for standardized testing and reporting, it wasn't disappointment the second grader felt. It was perfection.

“I didn't expect this at all,” Rainna said. “I was worried I was going to get a bad score on the test. I was really surprised to get such a good score. My goal was to get every question right, and not miss one.”

Rainna didn’t miss a single of the 65 questions on each the math and English portion of the exam. The test, given to second- through 11th-graders statewide, measures achievement in Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Sciences. The state requires that a certain percentage of students in different sub-groups, broken down by different ethnic groups, socio-economic status and other factors, perform at an advance of proficient level.

Julie Heggenberger, Rainna's mother, said she wasn't surprised about her daughter's success on the test at all.

“She had always been pretty advanced for her age,” Julie said. “She was just born with the ability to read and comprehend well. She has always tested out at least a year in advance for her age.”

Julie said that Rainna has been exceptional, especially in the area that she loves — reading. Rainna will read anything on her shelf packed with books that she has read four or five times, Julie said.

“Anything that she has ever learned, she has always been able to pick things up pretty quickly,” Julie said. “She is very crafty. She is always making things out of glue, glitter, and paste, and loves to make up her own songs.”

For Rainna’s teachers, this was expected. She has been reading at an accelerated level since age 4. Hinkley Elementary School Principal Dennis Hirsch told her that he hadn't seen a perfect score in reading and math in his 13 years at the school.

“She’s a very nice person, and obviously, she is as smart as a whip,” Hirsch said.

Rainna's accelerated ability was noticed instantaneously by her second grade teacher Cindy Espinoza. Espinoza said she felt receiving family support can make an exponential difference in her ability to learn.

“Within the first week when she entered my classroom, she scored a very high grade level at the time," Espinoza said. “She is just one of those students that always wants to do her best, and she is a perfectionist with an eagerness to learn.”

Rianna hopes to pass down her desire for excellence to future generations in her pursuit to become a school teacher.

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(760) 256-4122 or jason_blasco@link.freedom.com