Source: Coronado Unified School District
Ethan Lam, Coronado High School Class of 2022, earned a perfect score on a college-level Advanced Placement (AP) Exam in spring 2022. Ethan, a student in the Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA) Visual Arts Conservatory, was one of only 343 students in the world to earn every point possible on the AP Drawing Exam.
AP Exams are scored on a scale of 1 to 5. Ethan not only received the top score of 5, but earned every point possible on the exam, receiving the maximum score on each portion of the exam. “We are excited about the news and very proud of Ethan,” said his mom, Holly Bui.
Ethan spent four years at Coronado High School under the direction of AP Art teacher Laura Hill and CoSA Visual Art teacher and department chair Karrie Jackson. “The way that Ms. Hill has designed the AP Drawing course has helped to shape how I present my artwork, even assisting me in the portfolio application process to many of the universities I applied to and got accepted into (UCLA, RISD, USC, UCSD, Pratt, etc.). The amount of time I spent in the CoSA studio with Ms. Jackson also helped teach me all the necessary technical skills so I could apply them to my more creative works,” he said.
Lam is currently a freshman at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design. He plans to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in either Textiles or Apparel Design. “I’m in my foundation courses so I’ve just been seeing how far I can push my creative work before officially declaring a major,” he said.
Coronado High School AP Art teacher Laura Hill commented, “It was a complete and utter privilege to work with Ethan over the past four years and even more of a privilege to watch him learn and grow and stretch into the extraordinary artist and human being he is today. He is a testament to the fact that doing a huge volume of work, and keeping at it year after year, eventually closes the gap between your skills and your vision, making the dreams to which you aspire completely within your grasp. Ethan is a bright star.”
Trevor Packer, head of the College Board Advanced Placement Program, commented on the perfect score, “This outstanding accomplishment is likely a direct reflection of the top-quality education being offered at Coronado High School. We applaud Ethan’s hard work and the AP teacher responsible for engaging students and enabling them to excel in a college-level course.”
“AP courses and exams are college-level, requiring great focus and persistence among participating students,” added Packer. “We applaud the educators who encourage students to challenge themselves, who motivate and encourage diverse students to achieve their academic potential.”
Advanced Placement is a program created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities may grant course credit, advanced placement, and/or consideration in admissions to students who obtain high scores on the examinations. Coronado High School offers 23 AP courses.
Source: Coronado Unified School District
