AP Scholars honored by College Board

By Jean Reid Norman

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009 | 3:45 p.m.

Boulder City High School can brag about AP Scholars for what school officials believe might be the first time.

Eight students were recognized by the College Board for their high scores last spring on the Advanced Placement exams, which can earn high school students course credit at many colleges and universities.

Bret Turner, who graduated in June, was named an AP Scholar with Honor. That required earning a score of 3 out of 5 on four or more AP exams taken, with an average score of 3.25. A score of 3 is the minimum most colleges require to award course credit or allow a student to place out of a course into the next higher level.

Seven other students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by earning scores of 3 or better on three exams. They were Caitlin Forrester, Nia Jennings, Victoria Miller, Austin Samara, Spencer Sasarita and Jacob Sorensen, who graduated in June, and Kelsey Ripplinger, a junior last year. All of the recent graduates are now in college.

Ripplinger is taking four AP classes this year.

The honors are a reflection of an attempt to increase the number of AP course offerings and encourage students to take the AP exams, Principal Ann Nelson said.

Each exam costs $86, counselor Rebecca Balistere said, but students who pass them can save the cost of a college course. And even for those who do not pass, she said, "it's a rich experience. It's better to have this unsuccessful experience in high school than in college."

Boulder City High offers 10 AP classes, in English, calculus, chemistry, Spanish, world history, music and art.

Ripplinger, a straight-A student and National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist, took three of those exams last year — Spanish, world history and English language and composition.

"I like to challenge myself and do well in my classes, to see how far I can go," said Ripplinger, who plans to attend Brigham Young University. "Getting college credit is nice, too."

Ripplinger is the youngest of eight children and the first in the family to receive the honor, her mother said. It's not that the others aren't smart, Ripplinger said. Two of her sisters were valedictorians and a brother was a salutatorian at Boulder City High.

It was the addition of the world history class last year that allowed Ripplinger to take the three courses needed to earn AP Scholar status.

The world history, AP Chemistry and AP Music Theory have been added since Nelson became principal two years ago, and the school hopes to add U.S. history to its AP offerings next year, Nelson said.

"It sets a high level for rigor that filters down to the honors and regular courses," Nelson said.

Balistere said the courses are hard to fit into the schedule, but it's worth it, because the students respond.

"Our students definitely want the rigor and definitely rise to the occasion," she said.

Ripplinger said she notices that among her peers, who take great pride in beating her on any given assignment.

"I don't do perfect in everything, and they'll say, 'I got a higher grade on this test than you,'" Ripplinger said. "If they do better than me, they feel good."