The Advanced Placement (AP) teachers are LCHS are: (l-r) Randy Smith, Sheila Wilkes, Kathy Thomas, Lee Robinson, Heather Yarbrough, Carolee Hobbins, and Carol O'Neill. Not pictured is Mark Hill. LCHS was one of more than 80 Georgia schools recently designated as AP (Advanced Placement) Honor Schools.

"Georgia is a national leader in AP participation and success," said State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox. "More Georgia students than ever are challenging themselves with AP's rigorous coursework and are successfully mastering the material and passing the exams."

Advanced Placement Honor Schools were recognized in three categories — AP Challenge Schools, AP Access and Support Schools, and AP Merit Schools.

For the second consecutive year, Lincoln County was listed among the AP Challenge Schools, schools with 900 or fewer students that offer at least one AP course in each of the four traditional core areas — English, mathematics, science, and social studies.

Advanced Placement classes and exams are administered by the Col- lege Board, which also oversees the SAT. These classes offer college-level learning options to students in high school. In fact, students who receive a 3, 4, or 5 on AP exams may receive college credit. In addition, AP courses are weighted for HOPE eligibility.

According to the College Board's "AP Report to the Nation," Georgia is ranked 15th nationally in the percentage of 2008 high school seniors who made a score of three or more on at least one AP exam. The report likewise indicated that the percentage of Georgia students taking AP classes is higher than the national average.

In six years, the number of Georgia public school students taking AP classes has more than doubled from 21,704 in 2002 to over 50,000 in 2008, a more than 16-percent increase compared to 2007. The state's AP population also continues to get more diverse, with more Black and Hispanic students taking AP classes.

"Our schools and school systems recognize that one of the best ways to close the achievement gap is to challenge all students with rigorous work and high expectations," said Superintendent Cox. "'The AP Report to the Nation' makes it clear that our schools are doing just that. We have work left to be done, but we are making tremendous progress."

She went on to note that 10.5 percent of Georgia's Black high school seniors scored 3 or higher on at least one AP exam. "That is third in the nation, and seven points higher than the national average," the superintendent explained.

In her remarks, Dr. Becky Barden, principal of LCHS, said, "One of our goals during the last few years has been to increase the number of AP courses we offer. It has been our aim to try to add a least one AP course each year to the curriculum. Our students are also given the opportunity to take AP courses online through the Georgia Virtual School (GVS).

"We're very honored to receive this recognition from the state school superintendent and hope to continue increasing our number of AP course offerings," said the principal.

At the present time, LCHS is offering AP Calculus, English Language/ Literature, Biology, Statistics, Music Theory, and Psychology on campus. Plans are in the works to add AP United States History to the curriculum for the 2009-2010 school year.

As for the online courses, GVS offers a wide variety of AP subjects such as Environmental Science, Astronomy, Oceanography, Computer Science, Banking and Investing, Principles of Accounting, French, Japanese, Latin, Anthropology, Sociology, Asian Studies, and Advanced Algebra/ Trigonometry.

In 2007-2008, 679 students throughout the state enrolled in 19 different AP courses through GVS.

In closing, Dr. Barden thanked the Lincoln County Board of Education for its support. "It takes more local funding for these classes, which serve to challenge our students and give them a leg up when they enter college."

Among the 26 schools designated as AP Challenge Schools by the secretary of state were Albany High School, Dougherty County; Buford High School; Bremen High School; Davidson Magnet High School, Richmond County; Greene County High School; Johnson Magnet High School, Richmond County; Rabun County High School; East Jackson High School, Jackson County; and Temple High School, Carroll County.

Concerning the remaining categories, AP Access and Support Schools are those with at least 30 percent of their AP test takers identified as Black or Hispanic and 30 percent of all AP exam takers earning scores of 3 or higher.

The 42 schools recognized in this category included Richmond Academy; Bacon County High School; Bradwell Institute, Liberty County; Burke County High School; Clinch County High School; Davidson Magnet High School; Douglas County High School; Eagle's Landing High School, Henry County; Emanuel County Institute; Jenkins County High School; and Johnson Magnet High School.

An AP Merit School has at least 20 percent of its students taking AP ex- ams and at least half of its AP exam takers receiving a score of 3 or higher.

Among the 27 Merit Schools were Alpharetta High School, Fulton County; Davidson Magnet High School; Lakeside High School, Columbia County; Duluth High School, Gwinnett County; Walton High School, Cobb County; Savannah Arts Academy, Chatham County; and West Forsyth High School, Forsyth County.