RESERVE — When East St. John High School junior Brian Price Jr. learned he had gotten a perfect score on his End of Course exam in geometry, it created quite a stir on the Reserve campus.

There was the one teacher Price told beforehand he would get the 800, who had his doubts.

“I told him I would make an 800 and he didn’t believe me,” Price said. “So, when I did it, that was cool.”

Then there were the dueling geometry teachers who, apparently, had a little side wager on Price’s success. The winner was ready to do some gloating.

“When he read the list, he walked me to the freshman building to brag to the other geometry teacher about it,” Price said. “They had a bet going.”

Side bets aside, Price’s success was certainly something to be celebrated. Of course, for Price, it’s just what he does.

“I always want to get a perfect score on everything I do,” he said. “I don’t ever want to strive for just a 90 or something like that.”

Price, 17, the son of Brian Sr. and Crystal Price of LaPlace, said his family is a big reason for his academic success. He has two older sisters, both of whom were excellent students who graduated from East St. John.

Price said they spurred him to succeed.

“My sisters got all As and Bs, but I make straight As because I had them coming up supporting me,” he said.

“My sister (Crysten) taught me to read when I was 3. She was reading me Junie B. Jones books. When I was in first grade, she was in fourth grade and she would come home and teach me the stuff she learned that day. So, I had a head start.”

Price said he does well in English and math, but the latter comes easier to him.

“I’m just good at math naturally,” he said. “I like doing numbers in my head. The English comes naturally because my parents speak properly. I like to write, but not as much as my sister does.”

French, however, does not come as easily to Price. On a recent day he was found cramming for an upcoming exam in the cafeteria.

“He was in the cafeteria studying while everyone else was eating,” said East St. John assistant principal Quentin Bradley. “He’s intrinsically motivated.”

Added Price: “I’m just a couple of points down from an A, so I need to fix that.”

Price said he likes to cram his homework and studying into his school hours so he can do what he likes at home.  That includes working on old cars with his dad.  He also competes in the long jump and high jump on the school’s track team.

“When I’m not doing that, I like computer programming,” he said.

East St. John principal Tabari Simon said Price is a model student.

“Obviously he’s an excellent student, but I think what makes him stand out is he’s able to complete school work here at school and still have that balance you need to still have time for himself,” Simon said. “That’s important because, oftentimes you’ll find individuals who have to concentrate so heavily on one or another that it gets lost in the shuffle. We do that as adults. Here you see an individual who, at an early age has already figured out that there has to be time where you have to do what you need to do and there has to be time where you can do what you want to do. And you have to balance that out just to maintain that happiness.”