FARMINGTON — Eight students at Mt. Blue High School from the class of 2012 and two from the class of 2013 have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on Advanced Placement Program 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, and tend to stand out in the college admissions process.

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.

At Mt. Blue High School:

One student, Gianluca Pane, 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 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.

One student, Xiaojie Chen, 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 3 or higher on at least four of these exams.

Eight students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with grades of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars are Cameron Henkel, Derek Hoyt, Rachel Karno, North Kay, Sonja Mitic, Maryam Norton, Emily Ramsey and Robert Sepanek Jr.

More than 30 different AP college-level courses and exams are developed by a committee of college and university faculty and AP teachers, ensuring that they are aligned with the same high standards expected by college faculty at some of the nation?s leading liberal arts and research institutions. AP is accepted by more than 3,600 colleges and universities worldwide for college credit, advanced placement or both on the basis of successful AP exam grades.