Five Lahainaluna High School graduates earned AP Scholar Awards

Maui Preparatory Academy parent Marybeth Chin came up with the idea to donate extra Halloween candy and stuffed animals to Operation Gratitude, which sends care packages to U.S. troops overseas.
LAHAINA — The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program (AP) provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement or both for successful performance on the AP Exams.
About 18 percent of the nearly 1.7 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award.
The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students’ performance on AP Exams.
The five from Lahainaluna High School’s Class of 2010 included Josie Gomez, who qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.
Four other students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with grades of 3 or higher. The Lahainaluna AP Scholars were Jing Hua, David Jackson, Diego Torres and Tyler Vanderlaan.
Through more than 30 different college-level courses and exams, AP provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to earn college credit or advanced placement and stand out in the college admissions process.
Each exam is developed by a committee of college and university faculty and AP teachers, ensuring that AP exams are aligned with the same high standards expected by college faculty at some of the nation’s leading liberal arts and research institutions. More than 3,600 colleges and universities annually receive AP grades. Over 90 percent of four-year colleges in the United States provide credit and/or placement for qualifying exam grades.
The College Board is a not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Among its best-known programs are the SAT, the PSAT/NMSQT and the Advanced Placement Program.