Habersham Central students have again been recognized by the College Board for outstanding performance on Advanced Placement (AP) Exams. For the 2021-22 academic year, Habersham County Schools offered 18 AP courses – 14 face-to-face and 4 through Georgia Virtual School.
In all, 11 seniors earned the prestigious AP Capstone Diploma, 45 were named AP Scholars, 17 AP Scholars with Honors, and 15 AP Scholars with Distinction, according to the school system’s gifted program coordinator Martha Cantrell.
The AP Capstone Program is based on two yearlong courses – AP Seminar and AP Research. Students gain skills in research, analysis, evidence-based arguments, collaboration, writing, and presenting. The program culminates with students designing and implementing a yearlong investigation into a selected research question. Students who scored 3 or higher in AP Seminar, AP Research, and four additional AP courses received the Capstone Diploma. Cantrell says all of the HCHS students who participated in the program this past academic year achieved that. They are Juan Borge Osorio, Brianna Butler, Molly Butler, Sydney Chittarath, Landon Collins, Hailey Covarrubias, Abigail Dini, Sara Sue Jones, Angela Lee, Sarah Smallwood, and Kathryn Tedder.
Habersham County School Superintendent Matthew Cooper says students who earn the AP Capstone diploma have a “great advantage” when applying to colleges and universities.
A record number of 77 Habersham Central students were also recognized by the College Board for attaining high scores on multiple AP exams.
The AP Scholar with Distinction award is given to students who achieve an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. Fifteen HCHS students attained this honor: Maredith Anderson, Juan Osorio Borge, Molly Butler, Hailey Covarrubias, Abigail Dini, Hayden Hulsey, Emily Irvin, Sara Sue Jones, Angela Lee, Emily Pahuamba, Sarah Smallwood, Elisa Smith, and Kathryn Tedder, Mia Wade, and Deborah Widding.
The AP Scholar with Honor award is granted to students who receive an average score of 3.25 or higher on all exams taken, and earn scores of 3 or higher on four or more exams. Seventeen HCHS students received this award: Maxwell Britton, Brianna Butler, Sydney Chittarath, Bradford Chosewood, Landon Collins, Ella Free, Amanda Gant, Lillian Geiger, Ava Gruszczinski, Georgia Kerr, Anna LaBarbera, Ryan Martin, Madeline McMullan, Grayson Mean, Roberto Rios, Zachary Shubert, and Paola Vera Muniz.
The AP Scholar award recognizes students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams. Forty-five HCHS students earned this award: Jonathan Adams, Anthony Aguilar, Jimena Aguilar, Madison Almond, Daniel Ballesteros, Cristopher Castellanos, Smith Caudell, Liliann Contreras, Kellie Dodd, Darby Earl, Warren Fernandes, Edward Fialkowski, Idaly Flores, Eleanor Fontaine, Melanie Forrester, Timothy Fowler, Kelsi Galloway, Kaitlyn Gibson, Jacob Grady, Morgan Gragg, Samuel Hamilton, Ethan Jordan, Elijah King, Olivia Lathem, Abby Lee, Carson Michael, Obed Miranda, Emma Murry, Maggie Nava Garcia, Ethan Nooner, Ella Reynolds, Erik Rich, Hope Shirah, Collyn Smith, Damien Smith, William Snyder, Dylan Tatum, Alberto Vazquez, Haley Vieira, Amelia Westbrook, Jarred White, Brandon Whitfield, Chantelle Williams, Naomi Witter, and Micah Zack.
“As superintendent, I am very proud of our graduates who earned the AP Capstone diploma. I also want to congratulate all of our 2022 AP scholars. Our public school system here in Habersham County continues to offer academic opportunities to advanced students that simply cannot be found elsewhere in Habersham County,” Cooper says.
HCHS Principal Jonathan Stribling says the AP exam results are “quantitative evidence that Habersham Central is serving and challenging academically gifted students well, and unequivocally preparing them for the competitive college application process.” He adds, “In recent years, Habersham Central has an excellent track record of student acceptance to elite colleges and universities, and the credit belongs to our exceptional students and faculty. I am so proud to be a Raider.”
Habersham Central was recognized by the Georgia Department of Education as a 2022 AP Honor School in AP Humanities and AP STEM Achievement. The Ninth Grade Academy was named a 2022 AP Honors School in AP Access and Support.
