The Natrona County School District is one of three districts in Wyoming to adopt a new education initiative that encourages students to take on more challenging classes.

The Wyoming State Scholars Initiative offers incentives for students who elect to take a rigorous curriculum, including up to $10,500 in financial aid depending on how long a student stays in college.

Local businesses can also partner with the initiative to offer students mentoring, internships and even more scholarship money.

Fremont County School District 15 in Riverton and Niobrara County School District 1 in Lusk also signed up for the initiative.

The money comes from a federal Academic Competitiveness grant.

For a student to take part, his or her school district must join the initiative and the student must be eligible for a Pell grant. Pell grants are a form of federal financial aid. Director Sheila Martin said she expects other districts to get involved.

Martin said in some ways the initiative compliments the Hathaway Scholarship Program. Both encourage students to take harder classes in preparation for college.

"The difference is that we don't require a minimum GPA or ACT test scores," Martin said.

This way if students, "miss the boat with Hathaway," they can still qualify for additional financial help, she added.

Under the State Scholars curriculum, students take four years of English, at least three years of math, two years of foreign language and three and a half years of history. Students also take three years of laboratory science, including physics, chemistry or biology.

The Hathaway curriculum requires four years of English, math and science, but only three years of history. Only one foreign language course is required to be at the high school level for the Hathaway.

Wyoming students only need 13 core credits to graduate from high school. Taking an additional two and a half credits bumps them into eligibility for State Scholar status.

In a press release, state superintendent Jim McBride said he hoped the initiative would spur students to challenge themselves.

"We believe that a rigorous curriculum is the way to succeed," McBride said.

Reach Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@casperstartribune.net.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.