Testing their limits

Steven Gering, the principal at North Central High School, has been known to bother some of his students so much they hide when they see him in the hallways. He’d seek them out at assemblies. He’d sneak up on them in lunch lines.

Take Lindsey Schaefer, a 17-year-old junior, for instance.

“He said he’d bother me every day until I signed up,” Schaefer said, with a big smile. “He wanted me to sign up for an AP class.”

Gering said his particular brand of bother is a good one: he wants as many of his students as possible to sign up for Advance Placement classes.

“And Lindsey finally did. She signed up for AP English,” said Gering.

In early March, North Central High School received the CollegeKeys Compact Innovation Awards from the College Board for the school’s outstanding efforts at getting students ready for and into college. The College Board, a nonprofit organization, offers AP and other programs.

“It’s beginning to really pay off,” Gering said. “We have the largest AP program in Eastern Washington.”

Anyone can enroll in AP at North Central regardless of grades or class standing.

“At my old school it wasn’t like that,” said junior Alison Treichel, 17. “I’m taking American studies, English and chemistry. The classes are really hard and I’m kind of worried about the test, but so far I’ve kept my 4.0.”

Schaefer is happy she finally signed up for AP English.

“I mean, it is hard, but I stuck with it,” she said.

Konstantin Tachan, 18, and a senior, is in four AP classes including calculus and chemistry.

“It is challenging, I mean, it feels like a college level class and you are totally forced to do the work,” Tachan said.

His AP classes helped him get a full scholarship to Whitworth.

Natasha Murfin, 17, and a senior, began doing honors after maintaining a 4.0 in her sophomore year.

“Then I took one AP class, and now I’m in three,” Murfin said.

She hopes to go to Eastern Washington University and get a degree in nursing – she’s the first in her family headed for college.

“I used to just think about getting through high school, but now that’s changed,” said Murfin. “As for going to college, I think it makes more of a difference to me than it does to my family.”

The awards are given to schools that make significant progress in improving the academic success of students from low-income backgrounds. To be considered for an award, schools must show that its methods can be replicated, adapted and expanded by other schools.

“We are recognizing significant progress and achievement by institutions, but we also want to make clear the need for a focused effort to ensure there are more opportunities for low-income students to attend, as well as succeed in college,” wrote Ronald Williams, College Board vice president of community college initiatives, in a press release.

At North Central, about 50 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches said Vice Principal Steve Fisk.

“We think we have good reason to be proud of this recognition,” Fisk said. “I think our open enrollment policy has a lot to do with our success.”

Gering agrees, adding that North Central has seen a 20 percent increase in the number of students who get into college over the past five years.