WPHS Students Excel On Advanced Placement Exams
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WHEELING -- Wheeling Park High School students are excelling on their advanced placement exams, and the results show they can compete with the best minds globally, according to Principal Meredith Dailer.
Dailer told Ohio County Board of Education members this week WPHS has received the results of this semester's AP exams, and that they were very good.
Among the highlights of the numbers is that 74% of the students passed their AP test, she explained.
In total, exams were offered in 26 different AP courses at WPHS, with 217 students participating and 259 exams submitted.
Some students took more than one AP exam, Dailer said.
"In half of the classes, our students were above the global average," she continued.
"The AP test is one of those things you can compare not just across states, but across the country. And in half of our tests, our students were scoring above the global average."
In many classes, students achieved a 100% passage rate, according to Dailer.
She noted there were high results posted in AP classes taught by John Chacalos, biology; Stephanie Romanek, calculus; Courtney Redilla, chemistry; and Joe Leffe, environmental science.
There were 20 students in the AP human geography class taught by Jacob Galik, and all of them scored a "4 or 5 on the test," indicating they were at the top among those passing. The results are typical of what happens each year in Galik's class, Dailer continued.
"It's just unheard of, and it says a lot about what he is doing in the classroom," she said.
Galik said the good results aren't about him, but instead correspond with the amount of hard work and effort put in by the students.
He often goes in well before the start of the school day to assist students.
"When the kids want and need extra help, usually the best time is early in the morning," Galik said. "It takes a special kid to come to school before 7 a.m. for more help."
He noted he nevertheless was pleasantly struck when he saw this year's test results come up online.
"I never, ever, ever had results like this," Galik continued.
"It was a special group...truly."
Dailer also noted that Christy Greenwood had 100% passage among her students following her first year of teaching AP music theory.
Also achieving a 100% passage rate was Luke Shepherd for his Physics 2 and Physics C classes.
"Myself, back in the day when I was teaching, I avoided these classes," Dailer said. "They are incredibly time-consuming, and you have to do training. The students - they are high-demand students and they expect a lot out of their teachers.
"I would shy away, and these teachers step up every single day."
Superintendent Kim Miller added that it was "nice to shine a light on those who go above and beyond for our students" and take the extra time to see they excel.
"It is a great opportunity for our students, and it would not be possible if these teachers did not go above and beyond to take additional courses, provide instruction to our students, and work with them on an ongoing basis," Miller said.