PULASKI COUNTY, Ark. – Nearly a dozen students in the Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Program. The programs celebrate the hard work of thousands of high school students nationwide to help them showcase their strong academic performance.
The National Recognition Programs honor the strong academic achievements of underrepresented students and recognize their exemplary performance in school and on national assessments. Ten students from the four high schools in PCSSD are among the 90,000 students from across the country who earned academic honors from College Board’s National Recognition Program.
2024 PCSSD College Board National Recognitions
Feeder | Student | National Recognition Awarded |
Maumelle | Lucas Mazzoni | Rural |
Mills | George Belt | African American |
Mia Brooks | African American | |
Robinson | Hector Medellin | Hispanic |
Hayden Phanavanh | African American | |
Brianna Thomas | African American | |
Sylvan Hills | Ian Cook | Indigenous |
Bella Howell | First Generation | |
Addison Thomas | African American |
Eligible students must meet the following criteria to qualify:
Earn a GPA of B+ (equal to at least 3.3 or 87%-89%) or higher.
PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores that are within the top 10% of assessment takers in each state for each award program or earned a score of 3 or higher on 2 or more AP Exams by the end of 10th grade.
Attend school in a rural area or small town, or identify as African American/Black, Hispanic American/Latino, Indigenous/Native American, or a first-generation college student.
The first-generation program is new this year. If one or both student’s parents do not have a bachelor's degree, the student can qualify as first generation. A student’s parents may have some education and still qualify.
Every year, students can verify their eligibility on BigFuture® during their sophomore or junior year. At the start of the next school year, students receive their awards for their communities to celebrate them and colleges to recruit them as they head back to school for their junior or senior year. Thousands of nonprofit colleges and organizations can connect with awardees during the recruitment process to share more about their postsecondary programs.