This spring, for two weeks in May students from across Santa Fe will be sitting down to take Advanced Placement tests. Some students, however, will have a little more motivation than others.

Santa Fe High School was selected as one of four schools in state to receive a grant from the New Mexico Advanced Programs Initiative to reward students with $100 if they receive a 3 or higher on a math, science or English AP exam.

In addition to rewarding the student, the program also increases professional development for the teachers and gives them $100 for every student who passes.

"The program is meant to recognize that both students and teachers work harder to be in an AP course and there has got to be some recognition for striving for excellence," Marybeth Schubert, the executive director Advanced Programs Initiative, said.

Andre Miller, a senior at Santa Fe High School, agreed with Schubert 's statement.

"AP classes usually have more rigorous course work and harder content," he said. Miller is enrolled in AP calculus, government, environmental science and English. Besides the workload, Andre sees another benefit to AP classes.

"Being around kids that are more interested in learning and trying to do well in school has been helpful," Miller said.

One of Miller's classmates at Santa Fe High agreed that AP classes are beneficial. "I think that the AP classes are the most challenging classes at Santa Fe High," Malika Sterznickel said. She is enrolled in AP government, economics, psychology, and English. Sterznickel said she takes AP classes to prepare for college and because she enjoys the challenge they offer.

"The benefits of AP classes are a workload that prepares you for college classes," Sterznickel said.

AP biology teacher Diane Catron agreed. "AP classes really show students how to learn something," Catron said. "It gives them strategies for learning, it shows them how much reading you have to do, and it gives them a taste of what's ahead so they're not just lost when they go to college."

Catron, who has taught AP biology at both Santa Fe High and Santa Fe Preparatory schools, is a consultant for the College Board, the organization that administers AP exams. Catron said her students score an average of 4.5 (on a 5-point scale) or higher every year on the AP biology exam.

"Students who take AP courses are more likely to finish college in four years; they are more likely to be student leaders; they are more likely to go on and get graduate degrees; (and) their GPA is higher," Catron said.

In fact, a 2008 study commissioned by the College Board found that students who took the AP English literature exam were 62 percent more likely to finish college in four years than those who did not.

In addition, a 2007 Crux Research report also found that 31 percent of colleges and universities value AP scores when making scholarship decisions, and over 85 percent said AP scores have favorable impact on a student's admission.

"Going forward, we will work with Santa Fe High School to reach students and parents with messages about what AP is and why they should be looking at it and expand the recognition of why AP is a valuable program," Schubert said.

In this effort, the Advanced Program's Initiative hopes the incentives for both teachers and students will work, but students are mixed on the effectiveness. "I don't think it is a huge factor," Miller said. "I don't think people take the classes just because of the money they could get."

Sterznickel agrees.

"I don't think that people who would normally not take an AP class would take it because of a monetary incentive, but it's nice for those that are already in them," Sterznickel said, "It definitely increases my motivation to take the exam."

Even if the students don't pass the exam, Catron still sees a benefit.

"Even if those kids don't do well on the AP test and don't get credit for an AP class, just the fact of their sitting through an AP course in high school makes them do better in college," Catron said. And this is exactly why the Advanced Program Initiative is trying to increase enrollment in AP courses.

"We believe that many more students should be challenging themselves with rigorous courses than currently are," Schubert said. "We want to be involved in the dialogue in Santa Fe about why to push kids to take on that challenge."

Alex Wirth is a Senior at Santa Fe Prep. You can reach him at alxwirth@gmail.com.