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Schools

PCHS Students Earn Academic Excellence as AP Scholars

Nine students and graduates earned the designation for academic excellence.

Last year, 137 Port Chester High School students tested their college-level smarts by taking one or more of the 13 Advanced Placement courses available at the school.

Of that group, seven members of the class of 2010 and two current seniors have been named AP Scholars for receiving grades of 3 (out of 5) or above on three or more AP exams. Brittany Abel (*) and Emily Girardi are members of the Class of 2011; Dulce Angel, Ricky Coria, Vitor DeSouza, Daniel Gessner, Stephanie Henry, James Mutino and Helen Nowotnik (*) graduated in June.

The College Board says its 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.Only 18 percent of the 1.7 million kids worldwide who took the exams last year achieved the AP Scholar distinction.

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Girardi earned high scores in the exams for AP European History, AP United States History, and AP Drawing and Painting.

Only three members of the European History class earned a 3 on the exam. "I felt pretty accomplished," she said.

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Many factors helped these kids do well on one of these tests. The support and motivation by educators and administrators was as a main contributor towards overall excellence.

"Enthusiasm by the teacher goes a long way," said Mitchell Combs, PCHS principal.

 "Guidance counselors do a good job promoting the AP programs, and some of the teachers try to recruit students before the year begins—they want to have the best and brightest in their classrooms, because they are some of our best and brightest teachers in the school," he added.

Once the school year began, professors also pushed students' potential to achieve more than they ever thought possible.

"The teacher I had for AP Drawing and Painting, [April Dessereau], encouraged me to do more, than at least I thought was possible," said Girardi. "My art improved by just having her as a teacher."

"Our students are reaching out," said Combs. "They're going above and beyond by taking these difficult courses—they're sitting in them, they're being successful, and they're applying themselves."

"In some ways, the content wasn't what mattered—it's learning the ability to read, ask questions, and the logical reasoning to formulate arguments —these are skills we use all the time," said Combs.

So what's the secret for success at the APs?

To those looking for advice on how to reach her level of success, Girardi stresses studying outside the classroom. "I say to the kids in younger grades, 'you have to motivate yourself to put in the time at home.'"

The nine students serve as models for those wondering whether to take the plunge into AP.

"When those students are held to a higher regard, I think that kind of atmosphere helps pull up the entire academic atmosphere of the school," said Coombs. "We're creating that kind of environment where students want to excel."

Correction: The names of two AP scholars were spelled incorrectly in an earlier version of this story.

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