Classes prep college-bound high-schoolers

By Thomas B. Pfankuch
Times-Union staff writer

From a television set, U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy ranted and waved a finger at students in an advanced placement history class at Andrew Jackson High School in Jacksonville this spring.

After listening to the ravings of the paranoid Wisconsin senator, students turned toward each other and began to talk.

Their discussion had the feel of a college class - students thinking creatively and sharing opinions on why McCarthy gained power during his 1950s anti-Communism crusade.

Advanced placement classes are more difficult and in-depth than regular high school courses and culminate in a three-hour exam. Juniors and seniors who pass the exams qualify for free college credit.

Last year, 47 percent of Duval County students who took the exams did not pass. But school officials say the classes have value beyond the exams because they teach students to think and prepare them for college.

Mark Ivy, 17, said advanced placement classes helped him decide he was ready for college.

''I needed to know if I could make it in college, but now I'm sure,'' said Ivy, a student in Linda Holley's class. ''I want to get above where I might have been.''

Holley's students took the advanced placement exam in May and have different expectations about how they'll fare when results are released this summer.

Alicia Lockwood, 17, said she is confident she passed because she studied hard throughout the semester.

Ivy is less certain, but said he worked hard and is hopeful.

Terry Fernandez said the exam's difficulty surprised him.

''Halfway through the essays, my brain went dead,'' he said. ''But I think I skated by.''

Without telling them, Holley has promised to take students who pass for a steak dinner.

''I'm pretty sure I've got a few who will pass this time,'' she said.