FARMINGTON — Eight Mt. Blue High School students from the class of 2011 and two from the class of 2012 have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on Advanced Placement Program (AP) exams.

The College Board?s Advanced Placement Program provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while in high school. Students earn college credit, advanced placement or both for successful performance on the AP exams.

About 18 percent of the 1.6 million students worldwide who took AP exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award. The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students? performance on AP exams.

Three students, Alexandra Allen, Gwendolyn Beacham and Rosa Cohen, qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, and grades of three or higher on five or more of the exams.

One student, Abigail Flanagan, qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor award by receiving an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of three or higher on at least four of the exams.

Six students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP exams with grades of three or higher. The AP Scholars are Paul Boucher, North Kay, Elija Mazza, Kayleigh Morin, Gianluca Pane and Katherine Rice.