Ocean Springs Celebrates Academic Excellence

Acknowledging students who have achieved academic excellence and the teachers who helped them get there was the purpose of a ceremony this morning in Ocean Springs.
Since 2013, Ocean Springs High School has partnered with the National Math and Science Initiative, a group that provides grants to help encourage students to take advanced placement courses.
The grants provide for teacher training, pays for students to take AP tests, and rewards students for scoring either a 3, 4, or 5 on those tests with a $100 check.
When Ocean Springs High first partnered with NMSI there were only 18 qualifying scores in AP math, science and English. Today, the high school celebrated 246 qualifying scores. Program Manager with the College Readiness Program Toni Schneider said, “To see students that are ambitious about taking math and science courses, especially females and minority students and so forth, that’s really what we want to see because we know there are students out there that have the capability and the drive that they want to do it and we want to help support them in that.”
State Superintendent Dr. Carey Wright spoke at this morning’s ceremony, saying statewide participation in advanced placement courses among high school students has gone up 23 percent.