Earning a score of five on an Advanced Placement test is a huge accomplishment for a student and is an indicator of how hard he or she has worked to master content and skills in a college level course while in high school. Eighteen Monroe High School students earned a score of five on AP tests this past year and Principal Ed Crow felt this was something to be celebrated.
With bright orange yard signs that read "High Five from Monroe High School! This Bearcat scored a "5" on an AP Exam!" in his arms, Mr. Crow personally visited the homes of the 18 students who scored a 5 to offer congratulations and present each student with a bragging rights sign to display in their front yard.
Every spring, students all over the world elect to take the Advanced Placement (AP) Exam, the final step after a year of hard work in an AP class. These optional exams are designed to measure how well a student has mastered the content and skills of the college-level course — a successful score can even earn students college credit.
From Calculus to Music Theory to World History, there are 38 different AP content area exams students may opt to take. A student's score on the exam(s) are used by colleges and universities to determine if they will grant credit for what a student has already learned, or allow the student to skip the equivalent course once in college. The exams are scored on a 5-point scale (5=extremely well qualified, 4=well qualified, 3= qualified, 2=possibly qualified, 1=no recommendation). "Qualified" means that a student has proven themselves capable of doing the work of an introductory-level course in a particular subject at college. Many colleges and universities grant credit and placement for scores of 3, 4 or 5; however, each college decides which scores it will accept.
Last year Monroe High School offered twelve AP courses and 304 students elected to take AP exams and test their knowledge - wow! One hundred fifty-five of these students got at least one score of 3 or higher.
"It's important to show students that succeeding at the highest level is possible and we need to celebrate students that achieve at these high levels. We want to shine a light on the great things going on at MHS and hopefully encourage current and future Bearcat Scholars to strive for this level of excellence," stated Principal Crow.
The following is a list of the eighteen students who scored at the highest level on their AP exam(s) and in which subject areas:
Vincent Chen--Biology; Statistics (Vincent is also a National AP Scholar. This means he scored at least a level four on eight or more exams during high school.)
John Lee - Calculus; English Language and Composition
Ethan Stratton - Calculus; English Literature and Composition; Statistics, U.S. Government and Politics
Kelsey Hallett - English Literature and Composition
Paige Aagaard - Psychology
Olivia Blackwell - Psychology
Benjamin Garver - Psychology
Priscilla Camilo - Spanish Language and Culture
Mitchell Boulter - Statistics; U.S. Government and Politics
Hannah Chang - Statistics
Bryant Donner - Statistics; U.S. Government and Politics
Conner Erickson - Statistics
Matthew Klein - Statistics
Matthew Lee - Statistics
Thomas Miyoship - Statistics; U.S. History
Benjamin Olson - Statistics
Nicholas Soerens - Statistics
Valentina Alvarez - U.S. Government and Politics