Marshfield native and Marshfield High School Alum Derek Blanchard started the Blanchard AP Scholarship Fund last year to help students who struggle to afford the fees associated with taking Advanced Placement exams. Advanced Placement courses allow high school students the opportunity to earn college credit before ever stepping foot on university grounds.

Blanchard posted the following update on his Facebook page today, recapping the success of year one of the Blanchard AP Scholarship Fund:

The results are in for the Blanchard AP Scholarship fund. Last school year we helped to fund 22 AP exams and students received college credit for 18 of those exams. If we assume $300 per credit hour for college courses and 3.5 credits per exam (some worth 3 and some worth 4 depending on the school) we helped to fund just shy of $19,000 of college tuition. At a cost of $1,900 used to pay for the tests that’s a heck of a return on donated dollars! Thank you again to all who contributed! Contact me if you have an interest in donating for the coming school year!