Prairie Grove Students Honored For Performance In Advanced Classes

PRAIRIE GROVE — A group of Prairie Grove High School students are $10,000 richer today after being recognized for their scores on advanced classes in math, science and English.

Gov. Mike Beebe congratulated them for their accomplishment and hard work. He had his photograph taken standing among the 75 students recognized for scoring a 3, 4 or 5 on Advanced Placement exams.

Students received an incentive payment of $100 each time they scored a 3 or better on an exam offered by the College Board.

Will Pohlman, who graduated in May, was honored as a National Advanced Placement Scholar for taking at least eight exams and scoring a 4 or higher on each.

Pohlman, 18, said he earned $500 for his effort last year from the Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science incentive program and the School District. He earned a total $800 while in high school.

He attends the University of Arkansas, majoring in pre-medicine, animal science and biochemistry. He plans to be a pediatrician.

By The Numbers

Academic Accolades

Prairie Grove High School has 594 students. Among that:

• 37 percent of the student body enrolled in at least one Advanced Placement class.

• At least 254 Advanced Placement exams in math, science and English will be taken this school year.

• At least 352 exams will be taken in all Advanced Placement subjects this school year.

w 61 students or 40 percent of the senior class are taking Advanced Placement calculus.

• 86 students or 57 percent of the senior class enrolled in Advanced Placement literature.

Source: Prairie Grove School District

Pohlman said his performance in Advanced Placement classes gave him college credit at the start of his postsecondary career and allowed him to be excused from some courses.

“I’m better off and better prepared,” Pohlman said.

Arkansas was one of the first six states to receive a grant from Exxon Mobile and the National Math and Science initiative to develop programs to encourage high school students to take more math and science courses. The incentive program is part of the overall initiative.

Students in Arkansas are receiving $339,800 in incentive payments for their scores on Advanced Placement exams taken last school year. Arkansas students have received $1.2 million since 2008, according to Tommie Sue Anthony, state director of the program.

Prairie Grove was recognized for how quickly participation increased, Beebe said. Prairie Grove joined the program in 2010 and had 13 scores that received the $100 awards. This past school year the students recorded 92 scores of 3 or higher.

“That’s pretty amazing growth,” Beebe said. Overall, schools in the state participating in the incentive program showed a 9 percent increase in scores compared to the previous year. When all schools offering Advanced Placement courses are included, scores increased 8.6 percent, according to figures provided by Anthony.

Prairie Grove is one of 38 schools in the state that participate in the program.

“This is not an end,” Beebe said, “This is the beginning.” Students who take Advanced Placement courses and exams are better prepared for college or the workplace, he said.

Each exam costs $89, according to the College Board website. The Arkansas Department of Education rules for Advanced Placement programs state the department may pay the exam fees in full or partly, depending on the availability of funding from the Legislature.

Emily Ritcheson, 17 and a senior, said she was better prepared for an Advanced Placement English class last school year.

“The material itself wasn’t as hard as there was a lot of it at once and you had to figure out how to manage your time,” she said.

Her mother, Melynda Ritcheson, was one of many parents in the audience. With a hug and a kiss for her daughter, she said, “I’m extremely proud.”

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