EVANSTON — Evanston High School was recently named to the College Board’s 10th Annual AP (advanced placement) District Honor Roll, one of only two schools from districts in Wyoming, and only 250 school districts in the U.S. and Canada, to receive the designation. The designation recognizes schools’ commitments to AP programs and is awarded to those districts that, since 2017, have increased the number of students participating in AP courses while also increasing or maintaining the percentage of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher. 

For inclusion, districts must increase participation/access to AP classes, increase or maintain the percentage of minority students taking AP classes and scoring 3 or greater on at least one exam, and improve or maintain performance levels of percentages of all students scoring a 3 or more on AP exams. 

In 2019, more than 4,000 colleges and universities around the world received AP scores for college credit, advanced placement or both, and/or consideration in the admissions process. 

EHS Principal Merle Lester shared the news with high school AP teachers and guidance counselors on Friday, Dec. 6, and said, “This is a huge honor. It starts with our guidance counselors encouraging and pushing kids to take AP classes and literally comes down to every last one of our teachers and the relationships they’ve built with the students.” 

Lester continued, “We also need to celebrate the kids in the AP classes for their courage, work ethic and determination. We also absolutely owe a tremendous ‘Thank you’ to those involved with pre-AP classes on down to the middle schools and elementary schools. It takes everybody.” 

EHS Assistant Principal Scott Kohler also sang the praises of the teachers.

“Their sustained efforts make a difference,” he said. “They set the vision and they help the kids hang in there.” 

District superintendent Ryan Thomas said, “This recognition of our students’ success is a direct result of the high school’s commitment to student learning, collaborative teams and becoming a high-reliability school by 2022.” 

Jim Dolezal, history teacher, said gratitude is also owed to parents who put their trust in district staff when they are often worried about increased course demands and lost family time, as well as possible impacts to student grade point averages. Lester said he is particularly thankful to parents Adam and Pamela Fuller, whose children have both graduated, for their work in helping to push for more rigorous class offerings at the high school. 

According to Lester and the school counselors, it often takes some work to convince parents to allow their children to enroll in AP courses, particularly because of concerns about GPA. “We’ve got to get away from thinking that GPA is the end-all, be-all for college,” said Lester. “It’s about the learning and the challenges. GPA does matter, I’m not going to lie, but it’s about learning to work hard. When colleges, and particularly Ivy League schools, ask about students, the number one thing they ask is if a student took the hardest classes we offered.” 

The high school currently offers multiple advanced placement courses, including literature and composition, statistics, U.S. history, biology, chemistry, calculus AB and BC, U.S. government and politics and art. Students taking the classes are predominantly juniors and seniors, although there are some sophomores enrolled. 

Guidance counselor David Sibbett said the AP programs have continued to grow, with increased enrollment and the number of AP tests taken has increased least 20% over the past three years. 

Statistics teacher Jennifer White pointed to data showing AP courses are better preparation for college than concurrent enrollment courses and said just taking the course, regardless of whether a student earns college credit on the AP exam, is linked to greater college success and improved college graduation rates. 

Calculus teacher Vern Hopkin said the high school has worked to create a “culture of success.” “We have some kids taking four AP classes at a time,” he said, “and the school culture is changing. You see it now with things like the homecoming royalty; those kids are all taking AP classes.”

Lester agreed. “We want it to be cool to be smart,” he said. “Not even necessarily smart, but we want it to be seen as really cool to work hard, to achieve and to do hard things.”