GARLAND — The pep rally Friday afternoon at South Garland High School was just like any other loud and raucous pre-game celebration, except most of the football team lined up to celebrate a different group of students.
The pep rally, the high fives, and some cold hard cash were for advanced placement students who passed their most-recent exams. Guadalupe Rivera, a senior who has taken multiple AP courses including history, physics, and Spanish, was among those celebrating.
"Well, I think it's very exciting,” Rivera said of the celebration that filled the South Garland gym with hundreds of cheering students. “And to be able to be recognized like this, I mean, it's pretty exciting."
Exciting, because this pep rally is part of a now three-year-old program in Garland schools. The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) provided tutoring, curriculum, and teacher training, with corporate sponsors like the Texas Instruments Foundation footing most of the bill to give every student who passes an AP test a check for $100.
“Excited. Really happy,” said South Garland senior Miriam Ramos, who would pick up her $100 check, too.
"I'm the first one to go to college [in my family],” she said. “So getting money from an AP test is a big help."
Ramos hopes to attend UT Austin and major in architecture and interior design.
Evan McKinney, also a senior who has taken multiple AP courses, picked up his first $100 AP prize, too. AP tests count for college credit, and McKinney has some pretty big college plans.
"I want to major in computer science,” he said, “and study neuroscience and artificial intelligence.”
The NMSI aims to increase AP statistics across the country. NMSI kicked off its partnership with Garland ISD in 2014-2015 with a $1.5 million grant from the Texas Instruments Foundation.
During the first year, students at Lakeview, Naaman, North Garland, and South Garland high schools recorded a 67-percent increase in the number of AP exams taken and a 51-percent increase in the number of students earning a “3” or higher on those exams.
GISD also began paying AP exam fees for students in 2015-16 and measured a 180-percent increase in the number of students signing up for the exams and a 221-percent increase in the number of exams taken. This academic year, Lakeview, Naaman, North Garland, and South Garland highs will award more than $50,000 to students with passing scores.
"And it’s just a nice way to get attention to the fact that academics are really important and academics are the way you make money in the future, so we're going to give them a little bit of it now,” said South Garland Principal Tracy Curtis. "I will tell them today, and I tell them every time I get a chance: AP is for any student who is ready for the challenge."
GISD is looking for additional sponsors to keep the program going. Guadalupe Rivera is among those who hopes it is a program that lasts.
"I think everyone should be recognized for what they do,” she said. “It's incredible to have such a way to be recognized."
Because a little cash and encouragement could go a very long way.