WHITE PLAINS, NY — With the 2015-2016 school year recently completed, Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino today honored students who met an academic challenge he issued last fall to Westchester County students in grades 6 through 12. The Astorino Challenge in Education, or “ACE,” offered a free season pass to Playland to students who signed up at the beginning of the school year and achieved one of the following three benchmarks during the 2015-2016 school year:
· Final G.P.A of at least 3.8, 95% or A average, or better (depending on the school’s grading system)
-OR-
· Perfect attendance for the entire school year.
-OR-
· A full grade point, letter or 10 percentage point improvement from the previous year’s final report card (Final 2nd year G.P.A must be at least a 2.0, 75% or C average).
The third benchmark was added this year to reward students who made a dramatic improvement in the classroom. Astorino said the ACE Challenge is now truly attainable for any student who puts in the hard work and dedication to their studies.
This was the county’s fourth year issuing the ACE challenge. This year saw nearly 900 Westchester County students sign up for the challenge, about the same number as last year and nearly double the number of students who signed up in the first two years combined. There are already nearly 100 confirmed winners of the challenge with dozens more coming each day as report cards are sent in by challenge participants.
Astorino was proud so many students were accepting and meeting his ACE challenge.
“We started it as a little extra incentive and motivation for the young people in Westchester as they begin the school year. Work hard, study hard and make all your classes and then get a little deserved reward at the end of the school year,” said Astorino. “To have hundreds of students accept the challenge to do the very best they can in the classroom and to strive for excellent results is very gratifying to me, but more importantly it speaks to the bright future these students are going to have and the bright future Westchester will have by investing in these kids.”
The free season pass to Playland is good from the date of issue until the end of the season and includes free admission to the park and unlimited rides. The passes are made available through the Westchester County Youth Bureau.