MAHS student earns top AP score

Meyersdale Area High School has been offering AP classes, including AP U.S. History for many years. These rigorous classes are graded on a scale of 1-5, with five being the highest score possible. For the first time, one of our Red Raiders has scored a 5! Congratulations to Kyleigh Blough for mastering AP U.S. History and earning college credits.

According to Mrs. Amanda Shaffer, this achievement is a true testament to the dedication and hard work demonstrated by Blough. Upon completion of AP U.S. History students must complete a comprehensive exam on the material that includes answering 55 multiple choice questions in 55 minutes, in addition to a series of open-ended questions on primary and secondary sources.

“I built this course and began offering it in 2020-2021 and after COVID, it became an in-person class. The final exam for U.S. History is one of the most difficult and Kyleigh is our first student to score a 5.”

According to College Boards, just 14% of students taking this course across the country earned a score of 5.

Blough, a senior, is planning to attend Saint Francis University to earn a degree in physical therapy. Blough said she has always had an interest in history and enjoyed the class immensely. She chose to enroll in the course to help better prepare her for college and took AP U.S, History in addition to her regular History class during her Junior year.

“The unit on the Cold War was my favorite and the class was challenging but I really enjoyed it,” Blough explained. “The class was a lot of work and was very different from most of my regular classes, AP History requires a lot more analyzing of documents and not as much memorization.”

Blough said the results of her final exam were a total surprise.

“I was not confident at all after taking the final and when I got the results in July I thought I was being pranked,” she said with a laugh. “But I am so glad I took the class and now I already have some college credits!”

Congratulations Kyleigh on this impressive achievement! And, thank you Mrs. Shaffer for offering this college-level course here at MAHS!