Walton Sweeps Siemens AP Awards

Two Walton High seniors are the Georgia winners of the 2011 Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement, extending East Cobb’s dominance of the awards.

Charles Wang and Lisa Wang each won a $2,000 college scholarship in the contest, which this year recognizes 99 state winners. In addition, two students from San Jose, CA, are the national winners, earning $5,000 scholarships.

Students from East Cobb high schools have won the Georgia award four years in a row and account for seven of the eight winners in those years.

The winners are the girl and boy in each state who earn the most 5s, the maximum score, on eight AP exams: Biology, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Computer Science A, Environmental Science, Statistics, Physics C Mechanics, and Physics C Electricity and Magnetism.

Charles has taken 14 AP courses, including five in math and science, and Lisa has taken 19, including seven in math and science, The Marietta Daily Journal reported.

“These students lead the nation in performance on Advanced Placement math and science courses, and we are proud to recognize them for their academic excellence,” Jeniffer Harper‐Taylor, the president of the Siemens Foundation, said in a news release announcing the awards this month.

Both Charles and Lisa, who aren’t related, also were among the 28 Walton students named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists in the fall.

They also continue an impressive run for East Cobb high schools:

• Walton had one of last year’s two Georgia Siemens winners, Abubakar Abid.
• Two Wheeler High students, Abigail Halim and Jason McElrath, swept the awards in 2010. Siemens also named Walton’s Joan Dutter the award winner among Georgia teachers that year.
• Walton had both Georgia student winners the previous year, Annie Wang and David Lerner.

The Siemens Awards come the same month that Walton, Wheeler and Pope were among 15 Cobb County high schools named AP Honor Schools.

“These students represent our best hope for a bright future where America is a world leader in science, technology, math and engineering—the foundation of the 21st-century economy,” College Board President Gaston Caperton said about this year’s winners.

The College Board administers the AP exams, which can earn high school students college credit.