NFM High students earn AP Scholar awards
Thirty-eight North Fort Myers High School students earned Advanced Placement Program Scholar Awards, which included six who received the AP Scholar with Distinction Award.
North Fort Myers High School Principal Kimberly Lunger said they went from having 14 AP scholars last year to 38 this year.
“I am proud of the increase of exams passed, and exceptionally proud of students who are willing to become scholars,” she said.
Lunger said the AP scholar award is given by the college board and it awards students at different levels who demonstrate college level achievements on AP courses and exams. Students can earn AP Scholars, AP Scholars with Honor and AP Honor with Distinction awards from the college board.
She said students who were awarded the AP scholars were 10th and 11th grade students, which is “neat because they still have at least one more year to work on college level work and move up in their award.”
Lunger said although there is no monetary award given, the payoff comes when universities accept the courses the students took in high school for college credit.
“It is extremely prestigious because your AP scores and awards are actually documented on transcripts that go to universities,” she said.
Although each university treats AP classes according to their admission requirements, the majority of the classes students take in high school they do not have to repeat in college, providing them with the opportunity to move onto the next course in that sequence.
She said the teachers are trained through the AP college board and those who teach the courses are highly motivated, which rubs off on the students. The curriculum for the classes is dictated by the college board and it must be followed by the teachers.
“I would attribute the success to not only having more students taking AP courses last year, but I think we have very effectively placed highly qualified teachers teaching those courses,” Lunger said.
North Fort Myers High School offers 17 AP classes that range in a variety of English, math, science and social studies courses.
“It is a time commitment and it is well worth it,” she said, adding that any student who is willing to commit their time and effort is welcome to take the course.
The students who want to participate in AP courses need to be successful in their existing high school courses and ask for a recommendation from the teacher for that same subject area from the previous year.
Lunger said AP classes are pretty rigorous, adding that the difference between an AP course and a regular course is the amount of work and research the students do outside of class.
Approximately 18 percent of almost 1.7 million students worldwide who took the AP exams also earned an AP Scholar Award.