Logan Skrzypek ‘27, Student Life Editor
South Lyon has offered AP (Advanced Placement) courses for many years, ranging from AP World History to AP Language & Composition. A lot of students take these courses to excel in future careers that they wish to pursue in college, or for expanded interest in a topic they love. Either way, AP courses are great for the student body. However, there are not many options for AP courses as of now, as we only offer 14 courses across 12 different subjects. So which AP courses do we not offer and why, and is there any chance that we will see these classes come to SL anytime soon?
AP Seminar:
AP Seminar teaches students how to find and use evidence from experts or trusted sources, and how to present the case from your own perspective efficiently, both through writing and multimedia presentations. Students choose what real-world or academic topics to investigate. AP Seminar encourages students to demonstrate critical thinking, collaboration, and academic research skills on topics of the student’s choosing. So why does SL not offer this course? According to College Board, “Colleges do not typically award college credit for AP Seminar scores, and when they do, it is most often general elective credit.” With this in mind, providing AP Seminar would not give students the fulfillment they need by taking this course for college credit—it would just be a normal English elective rather than an AP at that point.
AP Research:
Structuring off of AP Seminar, students have the opportunity to create their own study plans in favor of what they would like to study the most. Students can create projects and presentations about almost anything – including cultural impacts, society, climate change, and so much more. Whilst creating projects and presentations, students will learn about different research methods and will develop advanced research skills while researching a topic of their choice. Students develop skills such as conducting independent research, analyzing sources and evidence, applying context and perspective, writing a college-level academic paper, and presenting research findings to an audience. What is unique about this course is that there is no end-of-course written exam. Instead, students are assessed on performance tasks that are completed all year long. These components all contribute to a student’s final AP score on a scale of one to five. In order to take this course, AP Seminar must be completed as a prerequisite, as basic presentation skills are needed. Without AP Seminar, AP Research wouldn’t be a possibility here at SL.
AP Art and Design Program:
There are five courses that fall in the AP Art and Design program: AP 2-D Art and Design, AP 3-D Art and Design, AP Drawing, AP Art History, and AP Music Theory. In an AP Art and Design course, students will practice and develop the skills that artists and designers use, as well as practicing, experimenting and revising their work as they create. Students have the ability to create a portfolio of college-level work and submit it for a college’s evaluation, instead of taking a year-end exam. A qualifying portfolio score can earn you college credit, advanced placement, or both. As for AP Art History and AP Music Theory, students learn about the spanning cultures across all continents regarding the history of either art or music. Students will study the social, political, economic, and scientific timelines of art or music that have led to the creation of well known pieces of art and music. It is likely that we do not offer these AP art programs because of the amount of levels for each art class that we currently have, ranging from one to three (starting next year). On top of this, instead of creating an AP art portfolio, students who are truly invested in SL’s art classes can submit their work to a college of their choosing. For AP Art History and AP Music Theory, we just do not have enough students who might be interested in taking courses, considering the variety of art classes and the current size of our school’s band program.
AP African American Studies:
This course offers a source-based encounter with African American culture and experiences. Students explore key topics that extend from early African kingdoms to contemporary challenges and achievements. Drawing from disciplines including history, literature, the arts, geography, science, and law, students will study the vital contributions and experiences of African Americans and members of Black communities within the broader context of an African lifestyle. SL probably will not see this class seeing the light of day in our school because of the lack of diversity and potential interest from the student body.
AP European History:
In this course, students will study the rich history of countries such as France, England, and Spain, and many others from the year 1450 to present day. Students will cover key events and uncover the political, social, economic, cultural, and intellectual developments that shaped Europe and subsequently the world. Similar to AP World History and AP U.S. History, students will use DBQs, SAQs, and LAQs to demonstrate their understanding. Sophomore Olivia Vrenko, who is currently enrolled in AP U.S. History, said, “I think it would be a great idea to offer it sometime in the future, though I do believe it not being available to take is due to the fact that we don’t have a teacher that has time to teach it…I don’t believe that either [AP U.S. History or AP World History] give as deep of a perspective as AP European History can, due to the fact that AP World History covers an extensive amount of content and AP U.S. History focuses mainly on American relations.” Vrenko added, “I am certain that AP European History would be a feasible course here at South Lyon High School, due to the fact that the history APs mainly serve as a gateway into other AP courses by familiarizing students with the expectations and structure of AP courses.”
AP Comparative Government and Politics:
Alongside AP U.S. Government that covers government and politics norms in the United States, this course explores the government and politics in other regions of the world, including China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, the United Kingdom, and more. Students will cover most of the same skills presented in AP U.S. Government: connecting political concepts to real-life situations; comparing different political systems, processes, policies, and behaviors; read and analyze text sources and data to find patterns and draw conclusions; and develop a claim or thesis and explain it in essay format. We may not offer this class due to its similarities to AP U.S. Government, and because Government is a required course to take in high school, this class does not count towards that requirement.
AP Human Geography:
One of the most popular AP classes that is typically offered to underclassmen is AP Human Geography. Students will immerse themselves in human geography studies by investigating population trends, exploring diverse cultural landscapes, and identifying spatial patterns across various scales. Students will learn skills such as connecting geographic concepts and processes to real-life scenarios, understanding information shown in maps, tables, charts, graphs, images, and landscapes, and understanding spatial relationships using geographic scales. Currently, freshmen and sophomores prioritize taking biology, analytical chemistry, or geophysical science, which means they would not have the opportunity to take this class as an underclassman. On top of this, we offer a lot of science electives that students may be interested in, so adding this one would take the amount of science courses to an all-time high.
AP Precalculus:
In AP Precalculus, students will explore concepts such as polynomial and exponential functions that can help them calculate their rise to influencer status, and many more concepts related to functions, logarithms, and trigonometry that can be applied beyond the classroom. Basically, this course is just a harder variant of the high-school level Precalculus course. It would not necessarily make sense to offer this course, considering a lot of students take normal Precalculus to prepare them for AP Calculus AB or BC. But, for students who do wish to go into a math field in college, this class would be a decent addition towards preparing them for that field.
AP Computer Science A & AP Computer Science Principles:
Have you ever been curious about how websites and apps are created? Do you want to build interactive art? If you said yes to any of these questions, then AP Computer Science A or Principles would be a good course selection for you—if we offered it. In AP Computer Science A, students will design and implement computer programs using a subset of the Java programming language that can be used to develop algorithms, data structures, and solve problems. For AP Computer Science Principles, students will learn the basics to computers and technology, and how they impact our daily lives. They will learn how our personal data is collected and how technology can have positive and negative consequences. Why does SL not offer any AP Computer Science courses? We do offer quite a selection of technology classes for both people who love technology, and students who do not know a lot about computers who wish to do so. We may not have a lot of students at SL who would be interested in taking these courses as seen in the low amounts of enrollment for technology courses, hence why we probably will not offer it any time soon.
AP Environmental Science:
In this course, students will learn how to use the tools of science to address environmental challenges. Students will learn how to explain environmental concepts and processes, analyze data and visual representations, and apply quantitative methods in solving problems. Next year, a new environmental science course will be offered called Earth and Humanity: Interconnected Forces, which will cover how natural disasters occur, as well as other environmental science topics already mentioned. With this new addition, AP Environmental Science lowers its chance of being offered at SL.
The popularity for AP courses seems to be increasing as more students from incoming classes become interested in taking these classes. While difficult, AP classes are a crucial part of getting into colleges and being noticed by a college that a student would want to attend in the future. But not all APs are for everyone, which is why adding more would be an immense benefit to students who want to take the AP courses mentioned above. Hopefully in the future, more AP courses can be offered for the student body at SL.
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