Mariner High students receive AP recognition
Achievement levels continue to increase at Mariner High School with three students receiving the Advanced Placement Program with Honors Award and 21 students receiving the AP Scholar Award.
Mariner High School Assistant Principal Ronda Amaya said they definitely saw an increase of the number of students who received the award from the previous year.
“I know that Mariner offers more AP classes each year,” she said. “We really have taken a focus on rigorous college classes, which has attracted a lot of students that wanted that preparation.”
Amaya said the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program is a national organization that is very respected and well organized. She said the board makes sure that all of the teachers who teach AP classes are well trained and follow a very rigorous curriculum.
“The AP courses are geared towards higher-level thinking,” she said, adding that the courses are writing intensive with a large amount of homework.
Amaya said students know what they are getting into before they sign up for AP courses.
The AP Scholar Award is presented to students who meet the requirement of taking three AP classes and scoring a three or higher on three or more AP exams. Amaya said the test is based on a scoring scale of one to five. She said when students receive a three or higher they receive credit college credit for the class.
The AP Scholars Award was given to Itiel Agramonte, Joseph Calderone, Courtney Chaipel, Lindsay Cobb, Kerrigan Constantino, Kaitlyn Davis, Casey Gymrek, Benjamin Heavener, Meagan Lamb, Carolina Lerma, Jessica Nemerovsky, Stephanie Ogden, Amanda Peterson, Raymond Pugh, Brandi Schulte, Michael St. Onge, Ashley Tanay, Veronica Valencia, Vanessa Vazquez, Adrienne Wadsworth and Jarend Wentz.
The second level, which is the AP Scholar with Honor award, is a little more prestigious because the students are required to take at least four AP courses and receive a 3.25 or higher on all AP exams taken.
The students who received the AP Scholar with Honor Award were Derek Brockway, Bridgette Calderon and Jeffrey Moss.
She said many students have taken seven or eight AP courses, but they do not always pass the AP exam.
“The fact that they want to take that number of AP classes is amazing to me because it shows they are really trying to be top achievers,” Amaya said.
Another student recognized by the college board was Veronica Valencia. She was selected as the 2010-2011 National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar due to her 4.0 grade point average and her outstanding PSAT score.
She was one of nearly 5,000 students in the nation selected from a pool of more than 200,000 Latino high school students who received the award.
Amaya said she is really proud of Veronica.