HOOVER, Alabama - Scoring a 36 on the ACT college entrance test is not something most families get to experience even once, but for the Schoeneman family in Hoover, this past week it became a triple blessing.

Three of Steve and Debbie Schoeneman's five children scored a 36 on the ACT, which is the highest possible composite score and something that less than one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the test achieve.

The first was Devon Schoeneman, who scored a 36 as a junior at Spain Park High School in the spring of 2011. Now a 19-year-old sophomore at Northeastern University in Boston, she was only the second student at Spain Park to ever score a 36.

Her younger sister, Stefanie, was next, capturing a 36 when she took the ACT this past September as a Spain Park senior. Then this past Tuesday morning, Stefanie's twin brother, Matt, was awoken with the news that he snagged a 36 when he took the ACT in October.

"For me, it was like really exciting," Matt said. "I couldn't believe it at first. It was like a really big goal for me because Stefanie and my older sister had gotten it, and I really wanted to not be a disappointment."

It was Matt's eighth time to take the ACT. His previous highest score was a 34, when he took it for the fifth time during his junior year. At first, he was satisfied with the 34, he said. His parents and others told him it was a really good score, but he decided to keep pushing for that magical 36, especially after his twin sister achieved it, he said.

Stefanie said Devon's 36 was a motivation for her. Everyone at school knew her sister had achieved a 36, and she had sort of become known for being Devon's sister, she said. "I thought I could do that, too," she said.

Both the twins, who are 17, said they didn't feel pressure from their parents or other people to score a 36. It was more of an internal motivation, they said.

Nationally, only 1,162 of the more than 1.8 million members of the high school Class of 2013 who took the ACT earned a composite score of 36, according to ACT records.

So with those odds, how do three people in the same family achieve such a score?

"'It's pretty crazy, just thinking about it statistically," Stefanie said. "It's crazy, but it's cool. I think it makes sense ... We were raised by the same parents and have the same genetics."

Dr. Bruce Korf, chairman of the Department of Genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said that genes may have some impact on the ability of three siblings to score a 36 on the ACT, but it's much more likely to be a complex mix of environmental, social and cultural factors.

"When it comes to genes that impair cognitive ability, we know lots of genes can do that," Dr. Korf said. "Trying to find genes that enhance performance has been very difficult to do ... No such gene has been found.

"For three children in the same family to have that remarkable of an achievement, one has to first realize they grew up in the same household," he said. It's very likely that an emphasis on education and efforts made by their parents to encourage them applied to all three children, he said.

"There really can be a tremendous benefit from an enriching and supportive environment," Dr. Korf said.

However, even the most supportive parents have children with a range of intelligence and achievement, he said.

While the Schoenemans' two oldest children didn't score a 36 on the ACT, they did very well. Michael, who went to high school in Illinois and is now 26, scored a 29 on the ACT and earned a magna cum laude honor on the National Latin Exam. Erin, a 2009 graduate of Spain Park High who is now 22, scored a 31 on the ACT and was an AP Scholar of Distinction.

Steve and Debbie Schoeneman said they're proud of all of their children, who all did well in school.

"I think they're naturally smart," Steve Schoeneman said. "But they've worked hard."

Matt in particular showed a lot of perseverance to get his 36, his dad said. Matt could have been satisfied with a 34, but he wasn't. Even though he was very busy with other activities such as Spain Park's Law Academy, marching band and a community hockey team, he made time to keep studying for the ACT and to take it again, his dad said.

Steve Schoeneman also credits his wife as one reason for the kids' success. "My wife started when they were tiny little kids - reading, reading and reading," he said.

Most of them were reading by the time they were 4 or 5 and had completed the Harry Potter book series when they were 7 or 8, he said. "They were big book fanatics. That's a key to their success."

Debbie Schoeneman said she definitely has always encouraged her children to read. "I love to read, and I think there's nothing better," she said.

She volunteers with Better Basics, a nonprofit organization that provides literacy intervention, enrichment programs and educational opportunities for elementary and middle school students throughout Alabama. She volunteers to help children one day every week at Martha Gaskins Middle School in Birmingham and works as a substitute teacher in Birmingham and Hoover schools.

But she doesn't take credit for her children's success. They, particularly since they have been in high school, have been responsible enough to keep up with schoolwork on their own, she said.

Their dad agrees. "For the most part, they do it well," he said. "When they don't, she lets them know they need to get their butts in gear and get it done."

Their mom, who is a stay-at-home mom, is more directly involved in day-to-day activities because their dad works in Washington, D.C., during the week as a chief audit executive and senior vice president for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Stefanie and Matt said their mom has always been supportive and encouraging but not overbearing. She gives them room to chart their own course but steps in when necessary, they said.

Debbie Schoeneman said she has been thankful for the education her children have received since they moved to Hoover from Naperville, Ill., eight years ago. The youngest three all have come through Greystone Elementary, Berry Middle and Spain Park High.

"The opportunity has been there for these guys really to excel," she said. "They're smart kids, but they need to be challenged, and they need the curriculum, and I think they have been exposed to everything they should have been."

Stefanie said she and her twin brother make good grades (A's and B's) but not the kind of grades that are the equivalent of a 36 on the ACT. "We're just really strong test takers," she said.

The two took different strategies for success on the ACT.

Matt said he tries to go with his gut instinct on the answers and does better when he doesn't second-guess himself. Stefanie said she second-guesses herself all the time, which occasionally allows her to catch her mistakes. She's "really, really careful" and tends to take advantage of all the time given to take the ACT, while Matt might finish a section of the test with 10 minutes left to go, she said.

Stefanie's biggest advice for people who want to do well on the ACT is to take as many practice tests as they can to get accustomed to the types of questions asked. And neither she nor Matt were shy about taking the real ACT multiple times.

Matt took it eight times before he got his 36, and Stefanie took it six times. Their sister, Devon, took it three times before getting a 36.

All three of them took it as seventh-graders, scoring 21, 22 and 27.

Debbie Schoeneman said the biggest mistake she thinks people make is waiting until their junior year to take the ACT. That puts too much pressure on the children, and the practice in earlier years is very beneficial, she said.

Devon, Stefanie and Matt all took the SAT college entrance test as well, scoring a 2,340, 2290 and 2,100, respectively, out of a possible 2,400.

Their success definitely pays big dividends.

Devon, who was a National Merit Finalist in high school, applied to 20 schools and was offered $1.6 million worth of combined scholarships. She's now at Northeastern University with a double major in business and English and a goal of getting into publishing.

Stefanie and Matt both are National Merit Semifinalists and likely will become Finalists, which will mean many scholarship opportunities.

"My college tuition bill won't be quite as high as I was planning for," Steve Schoeneman said.

Matt said his top choice of colleges is the University of Chicago, though he could end up going to Auburn University or the University of Alabama at Birmingham, depending on the scholarship offers he gets. He most likely wants to become a neurologist, which will mean medical school, he said.

Stefanie said she wants to go to college outside of Alabama, preferably somewhere in the North. She might apply to a couple of Ivy League schools but also has an interest in New York University and Johns Hopkins University, she said. She's considering a political science major because she has an interest in welfare policy and human rights, she said.

For information on preparation for the ACT, go to www.actstudent.org/testprep/

This article was updated at 10:58 a.m. to correct the spelling of Naperville, Ill.

For more news from Hoover, go to www.al.com/hoover