Wildcat AP program grinds through Covid conundrum to deliver excellence
West was recently recognized, again, as a Level III Advanced Placement Pacesetter School for impressive student AP access and excellence in AP exam scores for the 2019-20 school year. Although last year’s exams were challenging in the midst of a pandemic, this campaign provided even more obstacles for teachers and students alike. These courses round off the academic year with an extensive exam, completed in the first two weeks of May, which decides whether or not students are worthy enough to receive college credit for the year-long study.
It sounds challenging, and for many, including sophomore Kiley Gibbs, AP classes are just as hard as they sound.
“AP courses are definitely a lot harder than normal classes,” she said. “It takes a lot more work and time, but I did find it very beneficial as we looked much more in-depth at the subject.”
AP chemistry teacher Stacey Markon teaches a course more rigorous than the course to which high school students are typically exposed.
“AP chemistry is a lot different than general chemistry,” she said. “It is a lot more in-depth; there is a lot more that students are expected to be able to do on their own. There are a lot more detailed calculations; a lot of hard calculations. I would say in general chemistry we do a lot of topics: we say a mile wide and an inch deep, whereas in AP chemistry we do a lot of information and a lot of depth to the information as well.”
Students who chose to take AP classes, particularly first-year AP students, were thrown into an abnormal education schedule. The question arose: how could a student effectively learn AP core standards when they are isolated with their own computers? Freshman Allison Simmons began her first year as a busy AP student in front of her Chromebook.
“I think virtual learning required a lot more of your attention, and it was harder to get as much information out of the lessons,” she said.
Gibbs shared the same sentiment regarding this situation, but was able to find relief when in-person learning returned.
“I think virtual felt more overwhelming as you would have to watch a lot of videos and spend all this extra time doing stuff outside of online class,” she said. “In person, you were able to learn; it didn’t feel like you had twice as much homework because you would just go home after class and have a normal amount of work whereas in virtual it felt like you had twice as many tasks.”
Despite the setbacks, Gibbs felt prepared with help from both sides of the computer screen.
“I feel that the start of the year went pretty well,” she said. “My teacher did a pretty good job of preparing us for it despite all of the circumstances.”
Behind the scenes of providing the necessary resources, Markon felt the stress of adapting a workload for an isolated class.
“What made teaching this year really hard is that they required we do the exact same curriculum whether or not we were in a traditional AP year rather than a pandemic year,” she said. “We were stuck with having to work very hard in a unique environment.”
The year may have been tough for AP students, including Simmons, but determination ensured her success.
“My advice would be make sure you have a good work ethic and build your time management skills,” she said.
Even if AP exams prove challenging to students, Markon values the skills that can be picked up in any AP course.
“Not everyone who takes an AP class gets an A in the class or a 4 on the test, but that does not mean they are not learning good information,” she said. “You have learned the course; you know the material.”
Markon ultimately values the importance of having AP classes as an opportunity in all situations, pandemics included.
“I think it is a great idea to challenge yourself,” she said. “I would also encourage students, if you're thinking of AP courses, to try Cooperative Academic Partnership Program (CAPP) courses and Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) classes to try to find a balance. Mainly, try to find a balance between what can help you the most to get ready for college and what can help you maintain healthy values in school and personal life.”
By Marty Bond
May 28th, 2021
Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue 8