Though the test style and content may have changed, Cass High students continued to prove their prowess, with the school having 19 recognized AP Scholars for the 2020 testing year. To become an AP Scholar, one must take at least 3 AP tests in their high school career and meet the score requirements set by CollegeBoard. All AP tests are scored on a scale of 1-5, with 3 being a passing score usually accepted by colleges for credit.  

The first level of AP Scholars requires students to score a 3 or higher on at least 3 exams. Cass High had 14 AP Scholars this year, with 7 graduating in 2020 and 7 currently enrolled at Cass High. Our graduate scholars are Lexi Atilano, Caleb Doolittle, Alice Draper, Joseph Forsyth, Alexa Halpern, Keegan Krouse, and Erick Rodriguez. Our currently enrolled scholars are Jessica Bhika, Camden Briggs, Kayla Campbell, Carson Carroll, Kyla Jenkins, Meera Patel, and Adriana Segura. 

AP Scholars with Honors requires students to average a 3.25 on all AP exams with a score of 3 or higher on at least four exams. Three Cass High students were recognized, all of which remain enrolled at Cass. They are Trinity Hatfield, Cooper Shane, and Caroline Ventura-Velasquez. 

The final category of recognition is an AP Scholar with Distinction that requires an average score of 3.5 on all exams and a score of 3 or more on 5 of the exams. Cass had 2 students receive this honor, one graduated and one currently enrolled. Our graduated AP Scholar with Distinction is Emily Linek, and our present student is Jaden Musacchio.

 While Cass High’s list of scholars is quantitatively not up to the level of many years before, it emphasizes the ability of our AP Scholars to persevere through a challenging environment and educational situation as the 2020 AP test season brought a wave of testing never seen before due to the coronavirus pandemic. The over three-hour marathon tests with multiple-choice questions, free-response questions, and essays were reduced to free responses and essay questions to be completed within 45 minutes. Jeffery “Cooper” Shane, an AP Scholar with Honor, thought tests were “easier than the traditional AP Tests” from years before and stands behind a Youtube cram session beforehand. Adriana Segura, another AP Scholar, shares many of Cooper’s ideas, stating, “I don’t think I would have been able to pass all my AP tests if we had to take the original test. I believe I would’ve gotten a higher score on my Spanish test because I was more prepared for the multiple-choice portion, but on my other tests I think I would have gotten a lower score.” Along with the changes to the testing structure itself, the content covered in class was cut short with the pandemic sending students online in the middle of March, only halfway through the semester. To help account for the disparity in information on the test vs. information that was covered during in-person instruction, the College Board released a series of lectures for each subject, providing an in-depth review for each test. Despite the increase of resources from the College Board themselves, one cannot forget the mental health challenges, the adjustments to the digital learning platform, and the home life stresses that provided another level of difficulty to the already challenging AP Tests. 

 Mrs. Emily Thompson, our AP coordinator never lost faith in our students or teachers. “I am super proud of our kids who took a test. I don’t know if I could have in all of that craziness. I would have been very tempted to just not take the test. I am super proud of the kids who followed through and took the test as it is proven to be very beneficial. We saw progress in some areas, but there is still room for growth.  Our teachers went the extra mile; teachers were invested in and cared about our students. Our teachers didn’t quit, and our kids didn’t either. Overall, I’m really proud! For what we faced, we did exceptionally well.”

Congratulations to our 2020 AP Scholars, and best of luck to our AP students this year!