JCHS students receive Scholar Awards

Seventeen Jefferson City High School students were among the 18 percent worldwide who scored high enough on the Advanced Placement tests to earn an AP Scholar Award.

Senior Yunxing Liao earned the highest award, the National AP Scholar Award, for scoring an average of at least four - out of five total points, five being the highest - and scores of four or higher on eight or more exams. The last time a JCHS student received that honor was in 2012, Counseling Director Carrie Welch said.

Six students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of three or higher on five or more exams. Those students are seniors George Burson, Jimmy Chen, Yunxing Liao and Brittany Patrick; junior Rakesh Natarajan; and graduate Max Mollenkamp.

Three students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of three or higher on four or more of the exams. Those students are graduates Ryan Esterline, Daniel Gernander and Jonathan Satterfield.

Eight students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP exams with scores three or higher. Those students are graduates Chloe Bagnull, Andrew Warbritton and Charles Stock; seniors Stephanie Grant, Alicen Jennings, Rashaun Logaglio and Emily Rackers; and junior Michael Manda.

"Overall we're very proud of them," Welch said. "We had more students at the sophomore level attempting AP courses than the previous year. Overall kids did an amazing job, and we couldn't be more proud of them."

The College Board's Advanced Placement Program provides rigorous college-level courses for high school students with opportunities to earn college credit. More than 19 million students worldwide took the AP exam.