Over thirty Marion County High School students were recognized recently for passing an Advanced Placement exam during the 2021-2022 school year. Students who received a qualifying score on an AP test during last school year were rewarded with a celebratory breakfast in the high school’s cafeteria. Some of those students -- those who passed the AP Literature class -- also received a check for $100 thanks to MCHS English teacher Emily Wiser’s participation in a grant-funded college readiness program.
In all, there were nearly 70 qualifying AP scores from MCHS last year (this includes students who passed more than one exam).
Among them were 26 students who Wiser taught in AP literature.
“I expected a large population of the students to pass based on their previous performance on AP tests,” Wiser said.
Wiser had also applied and was accepted into Advanced Kentucky’s College Readiness Program, which covered the cost of students taking the AP literature exam and also rewarded those with a passing score with a check for $100. Passing an AP exam is also accepted by many colleges as college credit.
“If they can earn a college credit for free and get paid if they pass, I think those are really great motivators to get kids in that room,“ Wiser said. “The exam is rigorous. It’s meant to determine whether or not you should be given credit for a college course just by taking this one exam.”
The grant Wiser and her students were a part of extends for two more years, meaning students who take the exam this year and next can also receive the $100 and have the cost of the exam waived.
Students who took AP exams found out during the summer whether or not they had received a qualifying score.
Wiser said many students began contacting her once they learned they had passed the AP literature exam.
“Obviously, $100 at this age is a pretty big deal so they were all pretty excited,” she said.
For current MCHS senior Mandy Courtwright, the time and effort she put forth in Wiser’s class was well worth it.
“It was a feeling of relief that I put all this effort into a class and it paid off,” Courtwright said. “We did several practice tests in class so I knew exactly what to expect going into it and that helped a lot.”
The entire list of students who passed an AP exam includes:
AP Studio Art:
Amelia Cantrill, Ava Drury, Alexis Garrett, Kelly Hutchins, Alliona McKibben, Milo Salazar and Emily Tungate
AP Calculus:
Ava Drury, Kelly Hutchins and Conner Lee
AP Drawing:
Ally Mattingly
AP Language and Composition:
Ava Akers, Ana Alvarez, Caitlynn Brady, Isabella Daugherty, Madison Garrett, Allanah Graham, Daisy Hawkins, P.J. Lanham, Keaton McCauley, I'Myni Means, Drew Morgan, Nick Mullins, Will Murphy, Roseanna Peterson, Luci Smith, Maddie Wiser and Connor Zink
AP Literature and Composition:
Zack Anzelmo, Cody Ballard, Lori Bartley, Aidan Bickett, Samuel Cecil, Mandy Courtwright, Allison Essex, Ann Farris, Brooklyn Gaddie, Emily Gardner, Kaily Greenwell, Jeb Hughes, Chloe Leake, Kylie Marrett, Paige Masterson, Ashton Mattingly, Henry Mattingly, Sydnie Mattingly, Anna Osbourne, Mary Beth Overstreet, Kaye Piekarski, Nathan Smith, Keaton Spalding, Kaley Tucker, James Tuttle and Makayla Yates
AP Human Geography:
Caleb Holt, Paige Masterson, Keaton McCauley, Jay Patel, Mariayah Sargent, Nathan Smith, Keaton Spalding and Fiona Thygesen
AP Psychology:
Kaley Tucker
AP United States History:
Rose Caldwell, Isabella Daugherty, Chloe Gootee, Daisy Hawkins, I'Myni Means and Will Murphy