GHS named to 6th annual AP® District Honor Roll
Grayling High School is one of only 15 Michigan schools and only 425 schools in the U.S.A. and Canada to be named to the prestigious College Board’s AP® District Honor Roll.
(Receiving the honor at left are counselor Lynn Thompson, instructor Loren Cobb, the College Board representative, instructor Jerremey Carr, principal Donna Boughner, instructor Craig Cobb, instructor Allie Ochoa and assistant principal Tim Sanchez.)
This is the 6th annual national honor roll for significant gains in student access and success, and it is the second time GHS has received this award. There are over 1,500 high schools in Michigan and nearly 22,000 in the United States alone.
Michigan has a passing rate of 66% of students taking Advanced Placement (AP) exams, and the global passing rate is 61%. Grayling High School's passing rate is 82%.
Principal Donna Boughner expanded upon GHS’s passing rate: “Our students greatly exceed the state and global rate, and they have done this for the last five years consistently. We are so proud of our students and staff for their hard work.”
Grayling High School was the only school in northern Michigan to be honored and is also the smallest school in the state to be honored.
The 14 other school districts in Michigan to achieve this honor are Allendale, Davison, Dexter, Diocese of Grand Rapids, Ferndale, Hamtramck, Hastings, Marshall, Milan, Northwest, Pinckney, Plymouth-Canton, Williamston and Zeeland.
Each year, Grayling has more students take advantage of AP courses and more exams are written. Lynn Thompson, GHS guidance counselor, said, "This year we have 92 students taking AP classes versus 60 last year while we anticipate 142 exams being written this year versus 109 tests last year. It’s nice to see our students take AP courses because these help prepare them to succeed in college.”
The AP courses offered at GHS include Calculus A/B, Calculus B/C, Biology, Chemistry, English Composition/Literature, Psychology, Spanish, Statistics, U.S. History, and European History. Due to the diligent preparation by their instructors, GHS students often are successful with the World History and English Language exams as well.
In 2015, more than 3,800 colleges and universities around the world received AP scores for college credit, advanced placement and/or consideration in the admission process, with many colleges and universities in the United States offering credit in one or more subjects for qualifying AP scores.
Inclusion on the 6th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on the examination of three years of AP data, from 2013 to 2015, looking across 34 AP Exams.
Regarding the importance of AP courses, Joe Powers, Crawford AuSable superintendent, added, “It matters to our students and their families. Each student that passes an AP exam can earn free university credit. We value these course offerings and place a value of up to $60,000 for our students entering a Michigan university.”
AP® and Advanced Placement® are registered trademarks of the College Board. Used with permission.
