Five LHS 2019 Graduates Pick Up National AP Scholar Honors

LEMONT, IL — Five Lemont High School students earned the top honor awarded by the College Board for performance on the college-level Advanced Placement exams. Class of 2019 graduates Brett Abbott, Kirsten Kash, Rasa Siniakovas, Hannah Sliwa and Lucas Zaczek all have been cited with National AP Scholar accolades.

The school said it established several school records in terms of recognition from the College Board. Lemont saw 149 students overall earn AP Scholar Award honors from the College Board in 2019, eclipsing the previous school record of 138 honorees in 2018. The school also set single-year standards for students earning AP Scholar honors (79) and AP Scholar with Distinction accolades (37).

According to the school, a record 917 AP exams were administered to Lemont High School students in 2019, and 67.7 percent of those exams resulted in scores of 3 or better. The school’s highest success rates, which is defined as the percentage of students scoring 3 or better, were in AP Spanish Language & Culture (87.9 percent), AP Human Geography (86 percent), AP U.S. History (84.1 percent), AP Macroeconomics (82.7 percent) and AP Psychology (78.6 percent).

In order to be named a National AP Scholar, students must earn an average score of 4.00 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of the exams they took, the school said.

Zaczek averaged 4.45 on 11 exams and recorded a score of 5 on seven exams. Abbott scored a 5 on five of his nine exams and recorded an overall average of 4.33. Kash earned a score of 5 on half of her 10 exams and averaged 4.30 overall. Siniakovas averaged 4.11 on nine exams, while Sliwa averaged 4.00 on 10 exams.

AP Scholar With Distinction Award

A school-record 37 students - including 21 Class of Class of 2019 graduates and 16 current seniors - qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of the exams they took, the school said. The graduates include Kayla Baskiewicz, Emily Brier, Joseph Cantone, Andrew Deuschle, David Diviero, Anna Goranski, Joseph Gumina, Matthew Krueger, Natalie Lassak, Shefali Mehta, Clare Mielczarek, Anna Mietus, Natalie Palarz, Nathan Pawlak, Marissa Pezdek, Janet Quiroz-Esparza, Lukas Rekasius, Audrey Schlueter, Emily Stood, Shedda Suleiman and Joseph Tomecki. Current senior honorees include Sophia Antonopoulos, Abigail Belsan, Caroline Bukowski, Benjamin Clarage, Tyler Craven, Logan Dudney, Evan Goodman, Manisha Joseph, Emily Knutte, Aubrey Molitor, Michael Regan, Scarlett Schuth, Taylor Shimkus, Kaytlin Timbers, Stefan Urosevic and Megan Zhou.

AP Scholar With Honor Award

A total of 28 students - 13 graduates, 14 current seniors and one current junior - also qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of the exams they took, LHS said. Those honorees included graduates Samantha Andruskiewicz, Connor Douglass, Andrea Kathleen Duran, Victoria Freitakas, Matthew Gasienica, Nicole Grames, Julia Hryc, Peyton Jeffress, Ethan Leyden, Arielle Lyon, Marta Mendaluk, Lauren Toma and Stephanie Valle; current seniors Charlotte Albrecht, Charles Burns, Charles Celis, Hanna Dworkin, Katherine Jabaay, Ema Kaunas, Julia Maduros, Jacob Morrell, Gabriel Potts, Caroline Pylypyuk, Hailey Sawatzky, Jack Sullivan, Natalie Swartz and Inez Yaagoub; and current junior Victoria Finwall.

AP Scholar Award

Lastly, the school said a school-record 79 students - including 47 graduates, 26 current seniors and six current juniors - qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with scores of 3 or higher. Included among those honorees are graduates Elizabeth Adell, Madeleine Amberg, John Arundel, Charlene Balisalisa, Abbigail Bendle, Lonnie Camer, Lucile Conway, Brendan Daugherty, Victoria Garcia, Klaudia Gornik, Tobias Hagen, Michael Harbut, Samantha Herce, Carly Holt, Alysse Jurgeto, Neha Kapur, Katherine Knutte, Grace Kucharski, Melanie LeBeck, David Lehenbauer, Alicia Lichacz, Emma Lochen, Marissa Loisi, Daina Maleiska, Isabel Martinez, Natalia Mendez, Margaret Micetich, Elena Miciulis, Anna Musarevski, Gabrielle Ognar, Gavin Pawell, Elizabeth Piercy, Bianca Pontrelli, Katrina Retzke, Luke Schaefer, Autumn Senecal, Rochelle Shroyer, Jordyn Smith, Joseph Spinelli, Alison Tasso, Conrad Tauer, James Tauer, Maria Tenuta, Arijus Trakymas, Mark Wencl, Maggie Yavaraski and Allison Zych. Current seniors Abbey Ascolani, Jessica Bartman, Anna Borzecki, Jacob Clarage, Christopher Duda, Sean Franklin, Kristen Hackiewicz, Cassandra Hamilton, Andrew Jones, Linas Juskelis, Willow Kamradt, Kyra Kho, Emily Maher, Jacob Mendoza-Pulido, Jacob Mielczarek, Krzystof Pach, Vir Patel, Ella Pelen, Vincent Pintozzi, Sullivan Rakow, Anish Sabnis, Marin Schiffman, Luke Selle, Annika Swientek, Morgan Wrublik and Kyle Zator also were cited, as were current juniors Matas Carmichael, Eryk Janowski, Ryan Madera, Kelsi Padalia, Shanay Patel and Ethan Ragasa.