"Knowing that someone else or a group of people acknowledged our hard work, it's really... it's special," student Linda Kugblenu said.
Just over 12-hundred students will share a total of more than 800-thousand dollars as part of the privately funded program known as "Reach."
"Students who performed well on their A.P. exam this year, they're the ones who are going to get a big bang for their buck this year, because Princeton and Yale are going to come knocking on their door," executive director Eddie Rodriguez explained.
A.P. tests are scored at 1 through 5, with 5 being the highest score. Scoring 3 or above is a success. Students in Reach who also attended special Saturday classes earned one-thousand dollars for a score of 5 on individual exams, 750-dollars for scoring a 4, and 500-dollars for each score of 3. Those who did not attend on Saturdays earned 500, 400 and 300 dollars respectively.
"The A.P. courses provide the students with real experiences that they're grounded and they understand they can do college work," said Gregory Hodge, principal of the Frederick Douglass Academy.
This is the second year for the program, aimed at low income students who attend one of 31 participating high schools in the city.
The Reach program this year has more students taking those courses and taking the final exams with successful results.
"This year compared to last, 21 percent more A.P. exams were passed; and this year compared to last, 35 per cent more of our African-American and Latino students passed, so they led the way," Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said.
Reach hopes to further expand the program.
NEW YORK AND TRI-STATE AREA NEWS
USEFUL LINKS:
EMAIL EDUCATION UNIT || REPORT TYPO || GET WIDGET
EYEWITNESS TWITTER || FIND US ON FACEBOOK
