Seven students at Orcas Island High School have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on AP Exams. They were recently honored at a luncheon at Roses sponsored by the Orcas Island Education Foundation. Over the years, the organization has supported many of the AP classes at the high school.

The College Board’s Advanced Placement program provides willing and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. About 18 percent of the more than 1.9 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award.

The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students’ performance on AP Exams.

At Orcas Island High School, Halley P. McCormick and Jacqlynn C. Zier qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average score of at least 3.5 on all exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.

Lindsay Anderson and Serena Sanders qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.

Three students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with scores of 3 or higher: Leah Cardinell, Jamison Rose and Alex Zderic.

Of this year’s award recipients at Orcas High School, are all from the graduating class of 2011.