Recent Changes to the Baginski Scholars Program
As some of you may or may not know, the Central Catholic Scholars Program has had some changes made since last year. Although I am a freshman and cannot take part in the program yet, I had the opportunity to interview Mr. John Allen and ask him questions about these changes and why they were made.
Some changes that were made were the admission process, some requirements of AP and Honors courses have been restructured, a scholars forum was added that students can get course credit for, and a program was added so that students in the Scholars Program can go to events outside of school. The admission process to the program is a competitive process and no student is guaranteed entrance. All eligible students are encouraged to apply. To be eligible students should:
- be in their sophomore year
- have taken a minimum of three Advanced Placement (AP) or Honors courses. One of these must be a writing-intensive course such as AP Human Geography or Exploring Literature and Writing I or II, or AP European History.
- demonstrate an ability to work at a minimum GPA level of 3.5
- demonstrate academic competence and excellence (i.e. perform in the top percentage of the applicant pool)
- have an interdisciplinary curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit
- show promising interest in social causes and the passion to make positive difference in the world
- be willing to participate in discussions with confidence, resourcefulness of ideas, maturity and respect for others
- demonstrate a commitment to abide by the high standards of academic integrity at Central Catholic High School
- be enrolled or plan to enroll in foreign language study.
The reason on why these changes were made was in order to benefit the students on their college transcripts and their experiences within the program. One of the changes was made in order to make the program more inclusive for students who are interested in joining the program. Finally, the forum was added in order for the current member to be exposed to a cultural enriching program and have credit appear on their college transcript.
