PEA RIDGE — Scoring well on advanced placement classes in math and science was financially - as well as educationally - profitable for several students at Pea Ridge High School.
Pea Ridge High School is one of 39 schools in the state, which is one of six states in the nation participating in the Advanced Initiative for Math and Science, according to Jamie Pharr, math director for the Arkansas AIMS program.
“Pea Ridge is doing really well,” Pharr told the students Monday prior to handing out $7,100 in checks - $100 per subject per student who qualified.
Some students qualified in several subjects.
Students who qualified in art and history earned $50 from the school.
Checks totaling $7,650 were given to the students.
“I don’t know if you realize, your teachers have done a lot of training during the summer,” Pharr told the students. “This is worth a lot of study ... rigor ... discipline. Suck it up. Decide you want to succeed.”
Pea Ridge High School had 168 students enrolled in either AP or pre-AP classes this year, compared to 58 the first year the school began in the AAIMS program.
“That’s fabulous,” Pharr said, adding that there were 50 students to qualify compared to 14 the first year.
Students who qualified included:
◊Biology: Aaron Meredith, Jeremy Smith, Elijah Stewart and Jessica Wheatley
◊Calculus AB: Kasey Cooper, Kimberly Cribbs, Malory Dove, Aaron Harper, John Hargiss, Meg Harris, Josh Marcotte, Aaron Meredith, Orren Ricketts, Benjamin Salmonsen, Nicolas Sanders, William Fucci-Wilson and Andrew Woollard
◊Chemistry: Dillon Davis, Kevin Deaton, Jacob Hickman, Katelyn Hudson, Sheyenne Keller, Drew Norris, Orren Ricketts, Matt Rylee, Nicolas Sanders, Ian Schaffer, Jarrod Wheeler, William Fucci-Wilson and Kayla Wright
◊English Language & Composition: Chastan Bratton, Abigail Brown, Kattarina Cochran, Tabitha Frasier, Trilby Gibson, Hannah Hargiss, Aaron Harper, Meg Harris, Jacob Hickman, Ethan Higgins, Savana Holley, Katelyn Hudson, Brittany Kaczorowski, Josh Marcotte, Aaron Meredith, Sarah Meyers, Micah Morgan, Jenna Morrison, Kaylee Nivens, Kelsey Parmenter, Nikki Pinto, Orren Ricketts, Matt Rylee, Ian Schaffer, Karen Shelton, Elijah Stewart, Alisha Simpson, John Wheatley, Kayla Wright, William Fucci-Wilson, Jordan Winnand Maria Yepez
◊Environmental Science: Jacob Hickman, Elijah Stewart, Jessica Wheatley, and William Fucci-Wilson
◊Statistics: Kimberley Cribbs, John Hargiss and Jarrod Wheeler
◊AP Studio Art/2D Design: Malory Dove, Claudia Contreras, Maria Yepez, Eli Stewart, Miranda Patrick and Trilby Gibson
◊AP Studio Art/3D Design: Claudia Contreras and Maria Yepez
School, Pages 8 on 09/28/2011