GREENFIELD — McKenna Goodson has always enjoyed math and science. As a tenth-grader at Stoneleigh-Burnham School, she worked with the head of the math department to research discrete math and combinatorics — advanced concepts that the school doesn’t cover in its curriculum. She also built a Rube Goldberg machine, a contraption intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an extravagant way, and she is president of the Math Club.
Now a rising senior who hails from Amherst, Goodson has received the Rensselaer Medal and scholarship. The medal is given to a student who has demonstrated a passion for math and science.
The scholarship will pay for $30,000 of her tuition per year, should she attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), in Troy, N.Y. RPI’s tuition is $57,100 per year, so the scholarship would more than halve that cost.
Originally, Goodson was considering going to a liberal arts college to learn about a wide variety of subjects. However, the Rensselaer Medal has made RPI a priority.
She hopes to study quantum physics, philosophy and math in college. Lauren Cunniffe, the academic dean and director of college counseling at Stoneleigh-Burnham School, nominated Goodson for the scholarship.
“Her interest in pursuing math and science in college is partly why we nominated her for the award,” Cunniffe said.
Goodson has big plans for after college, too. She wants to solve the Navier–Stokes equation, a mathematical problem so challenging that the Clay Mathematics Institute offers a $1 million prize for whoever solves it.
Her interests also branch outside of math and science. She is class president, a member of the Equestrian Club and co-president of the Debate & Public Speaking Team.
“She is extremely involved in the school and community,” Cunniffe said.
Stoneleigh-Burnham School is one of 5,000 high schools across the world that participate in RPI’s medal program. Each school can nominate one student per year, and the medalists are then selected from that pool. Generally, more than 150 medalists enroll in RPI’s freshman class every year.
Goodson’s Rensselaer award is not the first time her academic prowess has been publicly recognized. She won two public speaking awards: first and second place in two separate categories at the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship.
She is busy outside of school, too. She started her own small business selling cookies for horses, called “Your Horse Treats,” and half of the proceeds go to equestrian charities.
“I wanted to give back to the equestrian community,” Goodson said, “and also help my parents pay for my riding lessons.”