Thomas County Central High School commends students who have challenged themselves academically and proved knowledge gained through participation in Advanced Placement classes.
This past school year, TCCHS had nine students named as AP Scholars, three students named as AP Scholars with Honor, and seven named as AP Scholars with Distinction.
An AP Scholar is a student who scores a three or higher on three or more AP exams; an AP Scholar with Honor is a student who scores a three or higher on four or more AP exams; and, an AP Scholar with Distinction is a student who receives an average score of 3.5 or higher on all AP exams taken and a three or higher on five or more exams.
Those students named AP Scholars are: Hailey Bryan, Richard Hightower, Isabel Medellin, Chloe Pickens, Emily Robison, Natalie Smith, Anna Jense, Lauren Pearson, and Chandler Watson. AP Scholar with Honor students are Hannah Dixon, Maggie Martin, and Tyler Williamson. AP Scholar with Distinction honorees are Cole Donovan, John Fuller, Jane Guo, Lucas Jackson, Austin Yeomans, Jordan Bush and Eli Kosciw.
“I’m really honored about this accomplishment and I’m really thankful for such great AP teachers,” AP Scholar Lauren Pearson said. “They’ve helped me a lot over the years. Thanks to them, I’ve earned credit for AP World History, AP U.S. History, AP Chemistry and AP Literature.”
Senior Eli Kosciw, who was named an AP Scholar with Distinction at the end of his junior year, took AP courses in psychology, U.S. history, chemistry, literature, and environmental science. He plans to attend Georgia Tech and said the average student there is an AP scholar so, to him, earning the distinction “really was a necessity.”
“I’m glad to know I managed to reach my initial goal and earn college credit at the same time,” Kosciw said.
The accomplishment “took a lot of time and effort,” he continues, but was worth it.
“In the end, the extra studying and classwork helped thoroughly prepare me for the next four years of my life,” Kosciw said.
Recent graduate John Fuller was named an AP Scholar with Distinction. He said this is “a great honor.”
“I decided early in my high school career to take as many high level classes as possible to prepare me for college and, honestly, I didn’t even know there was recognition for doing well on the exams,” Fuller said. “But I worked hard to learn the material and evidently did well enough to get recognized by the College Board for my work.”
Fuller took AP American Government, AP Psychology, AP Literature, AP Statistics, and AP Human Geography. He passed all five exams.
He said taking these AP classes ultimately help him save money and time in college as he works toward his future. He plans to attend the University of Georgia and major in biology, pre-med.
Austin Yeomans, who also graduated in May and was named an AP Scholar with Distinction, is “tremendously honored” by the recognition.
“This is no small deal and it shows that people can truly accomplish great things, even in a small town like Thomasville,” he said.
His senior year, Yeomans took AP World History, AP Latin, AP Biology, AP Statistics and AP Psychology.
“While most people try to make their senior year very easy, I pulled an Atlas and took on a tremendous load,” he said. “I’ve realized that I don’t feel quite right if I’m not challenging myself in the greatest way possible. I need to constantly push forward into new territory.”
Yeomans adds taking these difficult classes have helped prepare him for his college workload. He will attend Wabash College.
“I’m sure it will be much more difficult, but I feel that I am better prepared for the transition than some,” he said. “I hope that I carry into my career the same enthusiasm and willingness…that I have had toward taking these AP classes.”
Cole Donovan, also an AP Scholar with Distinction who graduated in 2016, has taken AP courses in U.S. history, chemistry, art history, literature, psychology, statistics, biology, world history and Latin.
“I chose courses that both interested me as well as some that could help later in college with my major,” he said. “I am proud to be able to say that I persevered through and succeeded in nine very difficult AP courses. To me, this recognition signifies that all of the work that I put into all of my AP classes has paid off.”
Donovan said his AP classes will count as college credit for his school of choice, exempting him from “quite a bit of freshman core classes,” and taught him “good study habits that will be invaluable as a college freshman.” Donovan, who plans to attend UGA to study English/Latin education and become a teacher, said he could use this recognition “to encourage students to take more AP classes.”
Dr. Jim Rehberg, TCCHS assistant principal said, “to consistently demonstrate excellence and high scores across the Advanced Placement curriculum is a fantastic accomplishment.” He is proud of these young adults’ achievements.
“They met the challenge of our AP Program head-on and demonstrated they were more than capable of performing at a high level of academic rigor,” he said. “I think it bodes well for their futures and what new heights they will aspire.”