Marcus J. Newsome, Ed.D., Superintendent

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

News Release

CONTACT Tim Bullis

Director, Community Relations

748-1433

Nov. 17, 2009

For immediate release

Chesterfield students win with Advanced Placement

Advanced Placement classes offer rigorous academic experiences, and Chesterfield high schools offer Advanced Placement classes in multiple disciplines.

In 2009, more Chesterfield students than ever took an AP test: 3,078 students took 5,410 AP exams, up from 2,738 students taking 4,937 exams in 2008.

The highest possible score on an Advanced Placement test is 5. In Chesterfield, the percentage of 5s on AP tests jumped to 8.5 percent in 2009, up from 7 percent the previous year. Students who score at least 3 on an AP test may earn college credit. In Chesterfield in 2009 and in 2008, 49 percent of AP test scores were 3 or higher.

Students earned recognition through the AP Scholar Awards program, which has four levels:

· National AP Scholar — students in the United States who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP exams taken and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams

· AP Scholar With Distinction — students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams

· AP Scholar With Honor — students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams

· AP Scholar — students who score 3 or higher on three or more AP exams

One student who stands out is Osasumwen Benjamin, who earned an International Baccalaureate diploma from Meadowbrook High and achieved National AP Scholar honors. She is currently in her first year at Princeton University. In addition to approximately 30 exams and assessments required for the IB diploma, Osasumwen took eight Advanced Placement exams and scored 4 or 5 on each of them. The college credit she earned at Meadowbrook High meant that she entered Princeton as a college sophomore.

In 2009, Chesterfield County Public Schools had 10 National AP Scholars, 86 AP Scholars With Distinction, 88 AP Scholars With Honor and 296 AP Scholars. Here are the Advanced Placement awards by school:

A photo of Meadowbrook graduate Osasumwen Benjamin accompanies this news release.

Bird High

· AP Scholar With Distinction — Cheyenne Evans, Hillary Hodson, Jon Richardson, Riley Wilson

· AP Scholar With Honor — Kelsey Hales, Olivia Jenkins, Andrew Kennedy, Jennifer Moore, Tolulope Omojokun

· AP Scholar — 12 students

Clover Hill High

· National AP Scholar — Nolan Skochdopole, who now attends the University of Chicago, and Mukarram Tahir, who now attends Duke University

· AP Scholar With Distinction — John Blalock, Virginia Blanton, Andrew Dawson, Michael Dewitt, Hanting Feng, Aashish Gadani, Philip Gurecki, Matthew Hurtz, Alice Kim, Edward Kong, Kathleen Kraines, Thomas Lowery, Colin Mason, Sean McBride, Elizabeth McGlynn, Joshua Rush, Nolan Skochdopole, Mukarram Tahir, Ian Teune

· AP Scholar With Honor — Viet Chau, Brian Deale, Morgan Denecke, Thomas Johnson, Travis Johnson, Aakriti Malhotra, David Newill-Smith, Kathleen Odea, Erin Shupe, Aaron Starzyk, Paul Yerly

· AP Scholar — 43 students

Cosby High

· National AP Scholar — David Casalaspi, who now attends the University of Virginia

· AP Scholar With Distinction — Michael Birnbaum, Coryn Carson, David Casalaspi, Jared Condon, Tara Drooker, Kaitlyn Fottrell, Steven Higbie, Kathryn Hunter, Erin Mitchell, Joyce Oh, Brenda Peterson, Nancy Peterson, Kylie Ranson, Samuel Reinan, June Sturh, Insiva Taj, Emily Zuckoff

· AP Scholar With Honor — Jessie Cheng, Kendall Cole, Harold Collins, Christopher Doyle, Heather Hlavaty, Ivy Jeong, Kimberly Madures, Julia McClerndon, Caitlyn McPeters, Grace Merimar, William Michaux, Jackson Miller, Katherine Sharp, Megan Skochdopole, Jennifer Tennison, Jeffrey Tibbs, Courtney Trost, Kristina Voli

· AP Scholar — 41 students

James River High

· National AP Scholar — Anna Conte, Connor Hartnett, Daniel Miranian and Ann Reid, all of whom now attend the University of Virginia

· AP Scholar With Distinction — Rebecca Boelzner, Dylan Bowman, Anna Conte, Victoria Dickens, Sean Gerber, David Gould, Connor Hartnett, Daniel Miranian, George Moore, Felicia Powell, Ann Reid, Kelsey Tetsworth

· AP Scholar With Honor — Angela Asmos, Maximilian Bardwell, Dylan Bishop, Elizabeth Boswell, Jason Burkholder, Alexandra Cook, Cleo Dan, Peter Franke, Spencer Gervasoni, Kathleen Heim, Evan Hemingway, Kayleigh Heniges, Conner Herbert, Charlotte Mudnutt, Jeffrey Immel, Zachariah Jillani, Kaylin Kaupish, Donald Martin, Daniel Musco, Andrew Oshanick, Christopher Pena, Mark Smithson, Travis Taylor, Nicholas Wade, Mary Waller, Laurin Werner

· AP Scholar — 87 students

— continued —

Manchester High

· AP Scholar With Distinction — Melissa Deaner, Kara Heird, Hershil Patel, Rajhersh Patel

· AP Scholar With Honor — Christopher Brunelle, Randolph Critzer, Audra Norris, Rinkalben Patel, Tyler Thomas

· AP Scholar — 17 students

Matoaca High

· AP Scholar With Distinction — Jonathan Dupuis, Cameron Hastings, Jasmine Wade

· AP Scholar With Honor — Erika Bradshaw, Bilal Sayar

· AP Scholar — 7 students

Meadowbrook High

· National AP Scholar — Osasumwen Benjamin, now at Princeton University

· AP Scholar With Distinction — Jessica Farthing

· AP Scholar — 3 students

Midlothian High

· National AP Scholar — David Roy, who attends Midlothian High, and Veronica Snyder, who now attends the College of William and Mary

· AP Scholar With Distinction — Allison Abbott, Alexander Aceino, Grace Caudle, Laura Chambers, Emily Drahos, John Drahos, Rosemary Han, Ruey Hu, Angela Latora, Jonathan Leaton, Timothy Lee, Kevin Loeffler, Matthew Losego, Jeffrey Moore, Daniel Mullally, Audrey Pfund, Jason Riegel, Matthew Romeo, Emily Zadjura

· AP Scholar With Honor — Catherine Argiesti, Andrew Berlin, Madeleine Cassier, Jordan Connell, Caroline Connolly, Lauren Deyerle, Michael Guerci, Britt Hockenberry, Devon Holland, Brett James, Bryan Kauder, James Krahe, Mariah Landry, Matthew Smoots, Julia Winn

· AP Scholar — 51 students

Monacan High

· AP Scholar With Distinction — Jordan Calfee, Ellis Gray

· AP Scholar With Honor — Jordan Ambers, Matthew Mullins, Megan Reilly, Victoria Shelton, Lucy Wiegard

· AP Scholar — 23 students

Thomas Dale High

· AP Scholar With Distinction — Michael Gillespie, Chase Kiddy, Mary Leonard, Jessica Short, Spencer Watts

· AP Scholar With Honor — Sarandeep Kaur

· AP Scholar — 12 students

— end —