All grade levels are now offering new advanced courses for students which integrate two subjects into one class period. These classes alternate subjects daily and are geared towards the students interested in taking multiple Pre-AP and AP courses. One reason for the combined courses is to help boost AP scores and give students the opportunity to better retain the information.
This semester, freshmen students have the opportunity to combine their Pre-AP English class, taught by Nikki Minnich, with an AP Human Geography course, taught by Tracy Jennings, into one freshman humanities class that lasts all year.
“We made the decision before we got last year’s AP scores back, and the fall kids scored one to two points lower than I expected,” Jennings said. “They weren’t getting the information on a daily basis.”
The students have nightly AP readings for Human Geography along with books which tie the Pre-AP English I curriculum in with Human Geography.
“It’s still early on in the course, but there’s a lot of work,” said freshmen Jacob Fontaine.
The sophomore mixed class combines Pre-AP Chemistry and Pre-AP Algebra II. Chemistry teacher Janet Hutley teaches the combined course with Algebra 2 teacher Amy Hazlewood. Since the class runs on a split schedule containing “A” days and “B” days, the students have more time to complete assignments.
“Some kids are already into the schedule after coming from Lamar Middle School,” Hazlewood said.
The combined course was proposed by Hutley after she heard about a cross-over study done by the University of North Carolina.
“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t feel like it was better,” Hutley said. “It gives them the flexibility to control their environment a little bit more.”
The junior level humanities course combining AP United States History and AP English III added two new teachers this year. Teachers Lauran Popp and, new to Marcus, AP United States History teacher Christopher Porter are now teaching Humanities. In recent years, the AP Humanities course has been taught by Debbie Brininstool and Jennifer Forthun.
This year, Popp and Porter have created a combined AP Humanities course which functions with a similar “A” day and “B” day schedule.
“We get team names like ‘Pride’ and ‘Excellence,’” said junior Aditya Singh. “We are ‘Excellence’ and the other class is ‘Pride,’ and we know when to switch off.”
AP Humanities combines the 27-Week AP United States History course with the 18 week Ap English III course into one all year course.
“When I have the kiddos only one semester, I’d rather have them for a year and be able to work with them and see them grow,” Popp said.
Porter said he believes students need to consider the workload
“They’re going to have more core classes at one time,” Porter said. “English and Social studies never go away.”
Last year, AP Government and AP Psychology teacher Emily Worland proposed a combined AP Government and AP Macroeconomics course taught by herself and Economics teacher Matt Stoberel. This fall, this proposal was put into action with the creation of an 18 week AP Civics course.
The course is split between “A” days and “B” days where the students alternate classes through the week. On Wednesdays, the two classes combine into a “mock-congress” to talk about current issues in United States politics such as health care, immigration and education.
By the end of the term, each class period plans to have created a bill to send to Congressman Michael Burgess for review.
“The point for them is college credit, not for me,” Jennings said. “My point is did you learn something this year, do you look at the world a little bit differently.”
