Daily News (Bowling Green, KY): Document = Display

From: Subject: Daily News (Bowling Green, KY): Document Display Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:14:58 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01CB2755.26A71A60" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3664 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01CB2755.26A71A60 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=print&p_docid=12C8D07D1CC3DC70 =EF=BB=BF Daily News (Bowling Green, KY): Document = Display

Daily News (Bowling Green, KY)

December 12,=20 2009

BGHS earns = silver=20 medal
School honored by U.S. News and World Report for third=20 consecutive year
JOANIE BAKER = HENDRICKS,=20 The Daily News, jhendricks@bgdailynews.com/783-3234 =

Three times is the = charm for=20 Bowling Green High School, or at least a giant silver=20 medal.

For the third year in a row, the school has been selected = by U.S.=20 News and World Report as one of the best in its class. It became = one of=20 only eight schools in Kentucky to earn a silver medal in the = magazine=E2=80=99s=20 feature, =E2=80=9CAmerica=E2=80=99s Best High Schools, School = Matters.=E2=80=9D

Only the top 100 schools in the nation received gold medals = in the=20 report, with 561 silver and 1,750 bronze. No school in Kentucky = was=20 awarded a gold, but Louisville=E2=80=99s DuPont Manual High School = and Fort Thomas=20 Highlands High School were among some that joined Bowling Green in = the=20 second-tier rank this year.

Principal Gary Fields said the school found out about its=20 three-time victory Thursday and is already looking for ways to = lock in a=20 fourth appearance.

=E2=80=9COnce you get on there once you want to get it = again, and it has=20 served as a good motivator for staff and students,=E2=80=9D Fields = said. =E2=80=9CI think=20 we=E2=80=99ve assumed that high school students maybe = aren=E2=80=99t as interested in=20 this, but I think they really are and they take it as a personal = challenge=20 to be as good or better than the kids who have come before them. = They take=20 pride in being a Purple, and want to make sure they=E2=80=99re = holding up their=20 end of the bargain.=E2=80=9D

The magazine, which will be available on newsstands late = next week,=20 used a three-step formula to determine its outstanding schools. = Officials=20 first measured student performance on state tests, adjusting for = student=20 circumstance. They then looked at disadvantaged student = performance and=20 finally reviewed the amount of college-level coursework offered to = students, such as Advanced Placement classes.

Bowling Green High School has made extreme strides in the = past five=20 years to expand its AP program, which now features 17 courses that = were=20 taken by 26 percent of the 1,075-member student body in spring = 2009.=20 Results from the College Board Exams indicate that 62 percent of = those=20 students earned college credit, according to a news release.

The principal said the school has reached the point that it = must=20 turn its AP expansion efforts toward refinement as a means of = ensuring=20 that the =E2=80=9Cquality matches the quantity.=E2=80=9D Those = efforts, along with others,=20 will help the school aim toward being the first gold medal school = in the=20 state.

=E2=80=9CYou have to dream big to accomplish big = things,=E2=80=9D Fields said. =E2=80=9CAnd=20 I think the students, the teachers and the parents believe that. = And our=20 goal is to be the best high school in Kentucky, and the = only way to=20 make that happen is to keep pushing and achieving more ... it = would take a=20 gargantuan effort to get (the gold), but that=E2=80=99s what we = have to shoot=20 for.=E2=80=9D

Fields said the silver status can=E2=80=99t be attributed = solely to the=20 high school, as all five elementary schools and Bowling Green = Junior High=20 School contributed a great deal to preparing the students to = perform at=20 the silver medal status.

=E2=80=9CWe continue to receive recognition for = achievements, but students=20 (begin their endeavors) with preschool, through the elementary and = junior=20 high school,=E2=80=9D Fields said. =E2=80=9CAnd I never want = people to lose sight of that=20 =E2=80=93 it=E2=80=99s a team effort from when these students are = 4 and 5 years old.=E2=80=9D

Bowling Green Superintendent Joe Tinius said the = recognition is an=20 affirmation of the entire district=E2=80=99s efforts to = =E2=80=9Ccreate a positive impact=20 on learning=E2=80=9D from preschool to high school.

=E2=80=9CThis can=E2=80=99t just happen when they come to = Bowling Green High=20 School,=E2=80=9D Tinius said. =E2=80=9CThe basic fundamentals are = learned as they move=20 through elementary to the junior high school, and it culminates = with the=20 efforts at the high school.=E2=80=9D

Tinius said he thinks the repeated recognition by the = magazine not=20 only motivates the high school students, but sets the expectations = for the=20 younger students looking toward their futures.

=E2=80=9CWe=E2=80=99re in a unique situation in that all = our five elementary=20 schools feed into one junior high that feeds into one high school, = and=20 that makes it a little easier to help elementary students see that = connection and see at a young age that this is the = expectation,=E2=80=9D Tinius=20 said.

The superintendent said the third showing is indicative of = not only=20 school success, but districtwide relationships.

=E2=80=9CThis acknowledges that we have a strong working = relationship that=20 exists between teachers, students, parents and the community at = large,=E2=80=9D=20 Tinius said. =E2=80=9CThis doesn=E2=80=99t happen because of the = outstanding work of any=20 one of these groups, it=E2=80=99s an accomplishment that happens = because all the=20 groups work together and support one another and everyone is = driving to=20 make sure students are learning at the highest level.=E2=80=9D

=E2=80=94 For more information, visit=20 = www.usnews.com/listings/high-schools/kentucky/bowling_green_high_school. =

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