ACHIEVEMENTS
AP SCHOLARS SOAR
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BY AMBER IRIZARRY, COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
Congratulations to the 73 MPCS high school students and recent graduates who have earned Advanced Placement Scholar Awards for 2020, in recognition of their exceptional achievement on cumulative AP exams. There were 180 MPCS students who took 395 AP exams. The total percentage of AP students with scores of 3 or higher is 84 percent. MPCS students outscored the state and global pass rates on 63 percent of the exams taken. Of our 180 AP students, close to half were AP scholars (earning a 3 or above on 3+ exams). National AP Scholars have achieved a score of 4 or more on at least 8 AP exams. This year MPCS named four National AP Scholars: • Kristy Moss • Anton Oswald • Emma Kate Tucker • Alison Vaughan Mr. Britt Cottingham, MPCS AP World History teacher, said, "With the AP exams being online this year, the AP World History students did an incredible job staying focused. This is consistently one of the tougher AP courses/exams, but our sophomores stayed connected
“A N YO N E C A N G O O G LE DATES A ND FA CT S; I WA N T S T U D ENTS TO B E A B LE TO A NA LYZ E, I N T E R P R ET, A ND EVA LUATE C R ITIC A LLY.”
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while we were virtual for two months, and overcame all obstacles. They have amazed me with their grit and determination!" Notably, MPCS students taking the AP World History exam had an astounding 100-percent pass rate. According to Mr. Cottingham, the “normal” AP World History exam is 3 hours, 15 minutes, with 55 stimulus-based multiple choice questions, three short-answer questions, one long-essay question, and one document-based question. “It’s a marathon,” he says. For Mr. Cottingham, the more students are doing and thinking, the better. “History is a discipline, the art of reconstructing the past. The past is dates, facts, and things that ‘happened.’ I try to teach students history so that they have the tools to study the past. Anyone can Google dates and facts; I want [students] to be able to analyze, interpret, and evaluate sources critically,” shares Mr. Cottingham. The College Board's Advanced Placement Program provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both, for successful performance on the AP exams taken in the spring. AP performance is widely recognized by top college institutions, awarding more college course credits than limited dual enrollment. Traditionally, about 20 percent of approximately two million students worldwide who take AP exams perform at a sufficiently high level to earn the esteemed AP Scholar recognition. W
