Nearly 200 students filed in the doors at Pea Ridge High School Saturday morning.
“These kids are great. They want to know more. They’re very analytical,” Joanne McConnell, Rogers Heritage teacher, said of as students from Rogers, Heritage and Pea Ridge prepared for a day of classes.
The Saturday AP Test Prep was one in a series of three Saturdays that students will meet prior to May testing to prepare them for the arduous tests which could earn them money and college credit.
“It was time for the smaller schools to have an opportunity to host,” Crystal Marquez, Pea RidgeHigh School English teacher, said.
“They’re usually all held at Har-Ber or Heritage.”
She organized the first event to be hosted at PRHS. Held Saturday, Jan. 21, the event provided class time for students from Pea Ridge, Rogers High School and Heritage High School to hone their skills for the May tests. An event was held previously in Rogers.
“My wedding wasn’t even this big,” Marquez laughed, as sherushed from one area to another meeting the needs of the students and presenters.
Marquez said both Arvest, Pea Ridge, and McKee Foods (Little Debbies) contributed to the event.
Presenters were Sallie Parish and Linda Sullins for AP Literature and Composition and Susan Skinkle and Becky Cox for AP Language and Composition.
A third prep session will be held in February, hosted by Heritage. All students are welcome to attend. Students who have attended all three sessions will be included in a drawing for a new laptop.
Marquez, Lara Cooper and Londa Keever are three teachers in Pea Ridge who are part of the AP English Department which is enrolled with the ArkansasAdvanced Initiative for Math and Science Program. AAIMS was founded in 2007 when Arkansas was selected to participate inthe NIMSI Advanced Placement Teacher Incentive program thatwas funded with an Exxon Mobil grant. The program is a non-profit corporation that works with Arkansas schools and the private sector to maximize the number of students passing AP mathematics, science and English exams by planning, implementing and providing an incentive program.
“Before AAIMS, Pea Ridge Schools struggled with our Advanced Placement English program,” Marquez said. “Since implementing the initiative at our school, enrollment has increased by 71 percent and qualifyingscores have increased by an outstanding 68 percent.
“I am proud of the growth we’ve had in our AP classes,” she said. “I’m really proud of our kids. I know it helps them with critical thinking and analysis and argumentation. It helps them use better skills.”
“One of the main points of AAIMS is a free society - to get more innovative thinkers,” she said. “If students can analyze and write well, it helps them succeed in other areas.”
Preparation classes in AP Language and Compositioninclude: Rhetorical Analysis Essay, Argumentative Essay, and Synthesis Essay, as well as Reading Multiple Choice.
Preparation classes in AP Literature and Composition include: Open-Ended Essay, Prose Analysis Essay, and Poetry Analysis Essay, as well as Reading Multiple Choice.
Students who qualify on the AP Language or AP Literature test will receive $100. Many schools also recognize a qualifying score and will exempt students from Freshman Composition in college.
News, Pages 1 on 01/25/2012