NATCHEZ — Natchez High junior Jonathan Weir can’t remember a time when he earned lower than an A on a report card, and his standardized test scores are so good that ivy league colleges started sending him mail in eighth grade.

When he’s not acing his assignments or standardized tests, Weir likes to give back.

He tutors at the Zion Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Chapel every other Wednesday, volunteers at the Natchez Community Stewpot and collects funds for the Salvation Army during Christmas.

And when he’s not bettering himself in the community or in the classroom, Weir serves as captain of the golf team and plays trumpet in the school band.

How does he do it all and survive the pressures of teenage life?

“I guess I’ve been doing it for so long it’s a habit now.

“I’ve come this far and I’m not about to give up now,” Weir said.

Weir’s logical explanation for his success mirrors his attitude toward how to achieve it.

The night before standard tests, Weir said he tries to get a good night’s sleep and eat a big breakfast.

“I try not to think too much about the test before I take it, and it helps me calm down,” Weir said.

Weir earned an “advanced” overall score of 661 out of 666 possible points on the English standard test he took last year, including a 100 percent on the writing portion.

He also earned advanced level score of 465 on his biology standard test from his freshman year.

High school students take subject-area tests in English, biology and U.S. History the same year they take the course.

Weir credits his love of learning and his teachers for achievement in school.

“I love school and the fact that we have really good teachers who make it where we understand at a greater scale than what we need to know,” Weir said.

Weir said to study, he needs a quiet place and cannot be around TV or listen to music, like some of his friends.

“I like to sit in my bean bag chair with a lamp on,” Weir said.

“My parents pushed me hard to study, but they never really had to because I kind of did it on my own,” Weir said.

Even though Weir has an invitation addressed to him for a college fair in Jackson with representatives from Harvard, Stanford, Duke and Georgetown universities and University of Pennsylvania, he already knows he wants to follow the family legacy to Alcorn State University.

“I couldn’t imagine going anywhere else,” Weir said.

At Alcorn, Weir said he would like to study either agriculture business or plant and soil science.

Weir’s explanation of his achievement is simple.

“Personally, if I’m going to do something I want to be the best at it,” he said. “I want to try at something has hard as I can and be my very best.”

Weir is the son of Dante and LLJuna Weir.