One of the hottest topics today is the seemingly "out-of-control" murder count that soared to 85 over the Emancipation holiday weekend with a triple murder, coupled with the many other ills that are taking place in society, most of them done by males in most instances.  With the focus usually placed on the negative, the bright, shining stars that are the country's future almost seem to get overshadowed.  But five young males refuse to let that pall of negativity win out.  Miguel Cartwright, Carlyle Bethel, Runako Aranha-Minnis, Aravind Chenrayan Govindaragu and Dimitri Duncombe, members of Queen's College 2011 graduating class have all had the distinction of being named AP Scholars.  They sat at least three AP examinations each, and received an average score of three or above.

Advanced Placement courses give students the opportunity to take college level courses while in high school which proves their readiness for college.  They are exposed to college level material which facilitates their transition into institutions of higher learning and earn college credit.  Only students who have completed just about all of their Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Examinations (BGCSE) in Grade 11 and have received A and B grades are generally permitted into AP classes.  Students at Queen's College have to receive their Bahamians qualifications first before any other external examination.

Queen's College has been offering AP subjects for seven years.  They began with just two courses, and now the selection has grown to eight.  Courses offered are English Language and Composition, Psychology, History, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Calculus AB, Human Geography and Biology.

Bethel who sat three AP examinations scored a three in Microeconomics, a four in Psychology and a three in Human Geography.  They are scores he's really proud of.

"It's good to know that I could take college courses a year early while still in high school and do well," said Bethel who is heading off to the University of Connecticut to study banking and finance.  "It helps me a lot to know that I'm going to college prepared and also it provides me the opportunity to get college credits early and avoid taking these same courses in college, so [I] save a lot of money, actually about $3,000 per course."

He credits the staff at Queen's College for preparing the AP students to achieve the success they did.

"Actually, Q.C. did a wonderful job in facilitating us and giving us the resources and teachers to teach us the stuff.  With the amazing teachers that we had, it was definitely easy.  Teaching is a calling, and students can't do it without the teachers," says Bethel.  "And Q.C. does a wonderful job in training their teachers, and actually selecting teachers to love their students and nurture them.  And the administration [staff] helped to push us.  They would come to the class and check on us and they really pushed us to do good, so it felt like our obligation to do good for the school because they did so much for us."

Bethel was also proud of the fact that the top five AP students were all male, considering the crisis the country now finds itself in.

"Many people like to say that the males aren't doing good in our country and are falling down, and the females are the only ones standing up and have to pick up where the males are falling down, but our year in Queen's College was very strong with male.  At the graduation it was mainly males picking up the prizes, except for the valedictorian Karen Wert who did a wonderful job, but it was mainly males who cleaned up, and everyone was saying the males were dominating in our grade.  The males in our grade were strong and it made me beyond happy to see that."

Queen's College vice principal and head of high school Shawn Turnquest was pleased with the AP results.

"Every year we receive at least one AP scholar and sometimes two, however, this year we were very pleased to learn that five of our students were named as AP scholars ... and all male students!  They rank among the best in the world as only top students are given that distinction.  We are so very very proud of them.  We are aware of the hard work and the sacrifice they made to obtain those results.  Most Bahamian students are not exposed to Calculus while in high school and struggle, particularly in this subject when they get to college.  Taking AP calculus while in high school certainly helps with this.  We are very proud when our students receive high scores in their AP exams as we then know that they will certainly soar when they get abroad, but it also affirms and validates the decision of the school.  Our students, each year, return and tell us how well their Advanced Placement Courses have prepared them for university."

Turnquest said the students could not achieve what they did without putting in a tremendous amount of work and that the administrators and teachers continue to encourage all of their students daily, as they know they often need a boost to encourage them to persevere.  She also congratulated the teachers of the high achieving students who she says obviously worked very hard to ensure that the students were prepared.

Aranha-Minnis sat four AP examinations and scored a five in Psychology, three in Language, three in Spanish and a one in Calculus.  As he heads off to Emery University in Atlanta where he plans to study pre-med, he says his AP scores make it a little easier for him, because there are a few classes he won't have to take which will save him time.

Cartwright, who is heading off to McGill University in Montreal, Canada, scored a five in Biology, a five in Psychology, a three in Calculus and a one in Spanish says his scores reflect the efforts he put into his studies throughout his high school career, and he was ecstatic.

"My AP scores allow me to actually earn credits for some courses like Biology and Psychology, but taking the AP classes also prepared me well for courses that I still have to take like Calculus, because I did not score a high enough score because you need to score a four and above to earn credits for the course, so I still have to do Calculus over, but I'm still well prepared for the actual college course because I did the AP Calculus.  And I'm actually pretty proud of those scores because I did not do pre-Calculus, I just did Calculus," said the graduate who plans to study Physiology in the Life Sciences program.

He also feels more schools should offer the AP program to students because the program offers students the opportunity to experience the difficulty of college level courses while still in high school before actually doing the courses in college.

"They get to earn credits so they don't have to do the courses in college," said Turnquest.  "AP exams challenge students and gives them the opportunity to see what they can actually do, and gives them an idea of how well they will do in the future."

Turnquest believes other schools should consider offering AP subjects to their highly motivated and above average students.  She also says to offer AP courses, all teachers must be AP trained for the course to be AP accredited which can be a rather hefty cost to the school.  Over the years, she says Queen's College has ensured that their teachers receive AP training during the summer months.

AP examinations are given a score of one to five with one being the lowest and five the highest.  Many colleges will give college credit for any score of three or higher. Top tier schools, including Ivy League schools, prefer scores of four or higher.

Advanced Placement courses give students the opportunity to take college level courses while in high school which prove their readiness for college, gives them an opportunity to expose themselves to college level material which facilitates their transition into college and earn college credit.

Turnquest said the five young men who have attained AP Scholar status all showed that they loved to learn.  She described them as highly motivated young men who were well-respected by their teachers and peers. Bethel was the mastermind behind the club, QC 5000 that fed the homeless during the course of his final year at the institution.

Cartwright was one of the top students in the country, last year, having received eight "A" grades as an eleventh grade student.  He has also written a television series that has already been filmed. Duncombe was one of the last modern language cadet winners who did a summer language immersion program.

Aranha-Minnis and Govindaraju (who has returned to India for university) both received the highest scores in the country in at least one and possibly two Bahamas Junior Certificates and Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education subjects.
 
STUDENTS WITH THE HIGHEST SCORE IN AT LEAST ONE EXAMINATION

Miguel Cartwright
Araving Chenrayan Govindaraju
Leah Hayling
Karen Wert
Natalia Adderley
Runako Aranha-Minnis
Graeme Carey

STUDENTS RECEIVING A SCORE OF FOUR

Graeme Carey
Wenchantia Rigby
Karen Wert
Natasha Longley
Maria Phillip
Abhiram Ramesh
Annee Wildgoose
Dionne Almira
Carlyle Bethel
Prince Blyden
Marcia Charlow
Jason Glinton
Kenrick Hart
Kunai Sharma

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