AP, or advanced placement classes are considered to be some of the most difficult classes for a high school student to take. It involves heavy workloads, complex content, making use of time management, and so many more things. When a student takes one AP class, it is difficult, but there are many students who take two or even three AP classes. When a student takes more than one, they are faced with the task of working hard in each class and getting used to constructive criticism. For many, these factors deter them away from AP classes and choose to stay in regular classes, but not everyone is the same. Three sophomores, Kaitlyn Gallagher, Sheila Kern, and Evangeline Kern are deciding to face these challenges head on and give it their best shot. All three girls have high hopes for the class and also hope to achieve important milestones while in an AP class offered at Hamburg, AP Language.
AP Language at Hamburg is taught by Mrs. Texter, who also teaches 10th grade English, 10th grade PS English, and honors 10th grade English. All three girls have her for their English classes right now and enjoy it a lot. Evangeline has her for PS while Kaitlyn and Sheila both have her for honors. Right now, both Kaitlyn and Sheila are using new techniques and advancing their styles of writing everyday. When they find out they were being recommended for AP Language, they were both excited but also nervous. This AP class is more research based rather than literature based, which is something the girls have not really had much practice in. While it is something new, both Kaitlyn and Sheila are excited to experience it. They hope to be in the same class as they are best friends and want to learn alongside each other.
Evangeline is currently in PS, which is a post secondary class. In her freshman year, Evangeline had taken honors English. She chose to drop down, deciding to take it easy so she could focus on deciding what she wanted her career to be. After taking PS this year, she is ready to step back up into the advanced classes for her junior year. She is both excited and nervous. She is excited because it is something new and something she thinks she will enjoy but also nervous because had gotten used to PS that she is not sure how much of a change it will be for her. Despite being nervous though, she is ready to take on the challenge and try her absolute best.
For Kaitlyn and Sheila, they each have nearly the expectations for the class. They want a class that will not only teach them but also a class that will teach skills they will use for the rest of their lives. Many kids nowadays often ask the question “when will I ever use this?” and most teachers have an answer. Each job is different and requires different skills so why not have been taught them all. Sheila wants to be a psychologist, which will require high levels of thinking for her degree but also when she is a certified psychologist. It will require her to think critically and write papers or articles based on her findings. For Kaitlyn, she wants to do something related to history. History is a subject that requires looking back on records, history, and many other things. She will need to know how to write research papers and articles using evidence she has found or discovered. Evangeline on the other hand wants to be a fashion designer. This job will include tons of research in order to make the clothes. She will need to write articles and papers on her designs and ideas behind them. AP Language will help her with that goal.
For all three girls, they have high expectations for the class. They hope to learn new skills and refresh their mind of skills in the past. For more information about the AP Language course, go to the student handbook.
