Teachers are the Advanced Placement students at Kiski Area

Kiski Area High School  was full of students the week of Aug. 7, 2017 – but they weren’t teenagers. The students were about 200 teachers participating in National Math and Science Initiative training. Educators from across the country learned techniques on how to get students interested and performing well in advanced placement courses. The training is part of a nonprofit’s college readiness program. Muriel Fox Alim, program manager, said Kiski Area was chosen to host the training because of the success the district has seen with the program. High school Principal Chad Roland said the district has had enrollment in advanced placement classes go from about 370 to 500 for the upcoming school year. The number of students earning qualifying AP test scores has gone from 61 to 174. The enrollment for the AP language course that replaced the honors English 11 class doubled for the upcoming year. AP calculus teacher Melissa Schaeffer will be offering her 20 years of expertise to other teachers and students by becoming a trainer in the fall. Assistant Principal Matt Smith, said being part of the program has brought excitement among teachers and produced results among students. “That’s a huge impact,” he said.