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Glenwood High celebrates rising AP numbers

Hundreds of past and present Advanced Placement students were invited to accept a check for Glenwood Springs High School’s AP success.
Will Grandbois / Post Independent |

Advanced Placement isn’t just for the top of the class anymore.

Last year, 254 students at Glenwood Springs High School took College Board-certified AP courses, culminating in a test for college credit. That’s compared with 69 students the year before.

This year, the figure is above 300, of which nearly a third are talking three or more such courses.



“The word advanced is not a synonym for impossible,” Paul Freeman told the gathered student body in an assembly celebrating the school’s AP accomplishments Wednesday. “Advanced Placement is for everybody. It has very little to do with intelligence. It’s about persistence.”

The increased enrollment is made possible by the The Colorado Education Initiative’s statewide Colorado Legacy Schools program. Backed by funding from the National Math and Science Initiative, the program helps increase accessibility and success in AP courses by supporting teacher training, student exam fees, and classroom equipment and supplies.



The initiative even offers $100 to students for each passing score, and on Wednesday CEI officials were on hand to present a $16,100 check.

“Often, we limit our potential with thoughts like, ‘I’m not good enough.’ Today, we celebrate the people who said yes and did it anyway,” executive director Glenna Norvelle told the crowd.

While the Legacy Schools program focuses primarily on math, science and English, one of the school’s greatest successes was in another subject. In AP Spanish, all 29 students who took the test passed, and 14 had the highest possible score.

While the celebration was inspired by success, Freeman emphasized that the effort was just as important as the outcome.

Senior Dylan Mechling echoed the sentiment.

“Yes, the classes are hard. Yes, the workloads are tough. That’s the point,” he said. “While you might not be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel with homework and textbooks block your view, you will walk out of the class a better student and, more importantly, a better person.”


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