AP exams – and warm weather – challenge North students

For many students at Nashua High School North, the warm weather of the last few weeks has only intensified the sense that another school year is fast coming to an end. The sunny skies are evocative of the coming vacation months; the heat is reminiscent of a deserved break from classwork in the summertime ahead. But for North students in Advanced Placement courses, the springtime heat wave only serves to remind of the immediacy of their upcoming AP exams. Each year, hundreds of thousands of high school students nationwide participate in the Advanced Placement program, a curriculum sponsored by the College Board. The program allows motivated high school students the opportunity to take standardized, college-level classes in their own schools. AP class offerings, especially in Nashua schools, are broad and range from English to computer science to microeconomics. If an AP student passes an exam in a certain subject – effectively, earning at least a 3 out of the possible 5 points – he or she is eligible for college credit and possible recognition at a local or national level. But before this can occur, the student must face the exam itself: a daunting effort of more than three hours whose difficulty is its hallmark. In the past, the exams have been offered during the two weeks immediately following Nashua’s April break. This year, however, students have a week in between their break and the beginning of the exams – time that will certainly be used to their advantage. “The extra week is definitely a nice opportunity that I hope will help me in preparing for my exams,” junior Amy Scarpelli said. “Knowing how much I have learned this year has made the effort worthwhile.