From the Sierra Sun, Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Sugar Bowl Academy senior earns Advanced Placement Scholar Award

A Sugar Bowl Academy student has earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of her exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program Exams in 2007. Abby Gould, one of six seniors at the private ski academy on Donner Summit, distinguished herself on AP exams taken during her junior year in several disciplines.

Students from around the globe took AP exams in May after completing challenging college-level courses at their high schools. Those achieving standards set by the College Board receive college credit, advanced placement, or both. The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement. Only 18 percent of the more than 1.4 million high school students worldwide who took AP exams performed at a sufficiently high level to merit the recognition of AP Scholar.

Gould qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP exams, with grades of 3 or higher (on a scale of 1 to 5). The award comes as no surprise to those who know Ms. Gould. She has proven to be an outstanding student during her four years at Sugar Bowl Academy. According to Tracy Wilson, Gould's history teacher and advisor at SBA, "Abby constantly sets the bar high in her pursuit of excellence, leading her peersto approach her schoolwork with greater enthusiasm and diligence." Her extra-curricular distinctions include sitting on the SBA student council and skiing at J2 Nationals.

Abby Gould is the first Sugar Bowl Academy student in the school's seven year history to merit the AP Scholar Award, but not the first to achieve high academic honors. Johnathan Zordel, a class of 2007 graduate, is currently attending his first semester at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Sugar Bowl Academy, located less than a mile from the Sugar Bowl Resort, is a college preparatory ski academy, offering a rigorous academic program and world-class training for Alpine, Nordic and Freeride skiers. For more information, go to www.sbacademy.org or call (530) 426-1844.