BY JULIA SAXTON
AP. The two letters put in front of any class to instantly make it sound scarier. Luckily, Mariemont is full of them. AP stands for Advanced Placement and the main reason most people take them is for college credit. By taking AP classes in high school, students don’t have to spend as much time in college taking the same class over again.
To some, “AP” can seem intimidating and overall difficult, but looking into it deeper, it’s not as bad as it seems on the outside. Senior Katie Arends has her schedule packed with 5 AP’s: Chemistry, English, Government, Physics, and Calculus BC. Her favorite so far is AP Chemistry, which she actually takes at Indian Hill High School. She and three other seniors spend their morning at IH for chemistry, and then commute back to MHS for the rest of the day.
“The AP Chemistry teacher is awesome,” Arends shares. The class itself is still in its early stages of development but is an opportunity for students who love Chemistry (mostly taken by sophomores) to expand on their interests. For Katie, it is key in her goal to be an engineer.
Similarly, junior Elysse Winget enrolled herself in 3 AP classes this year: English, US History, and Biology. Of the three, she is enjoying English the most.
When asked why she wanted to take AP English, Winget replied, “I’ve heard from everyone that Mrs. Toepfer is
awesome.” She also adds that it would look really good on her transcript if she took an advanced English class all four years.
“I’ve only heard good things about the class,” Winget adds.
One of these “good things” in AP English is the AP exam. Now, at first it wouldn’t seem that the phrases “good things” and “AP exam” could even be in the same sentence, but Mrs. Toepfer, the Junior English teacher, has her way of spicing up the exam.
“Of course there’s food. And little treat bags full of stuff,” Toepfer says. She feels that everyone should feel comfortable taking the exam, so she does everything in her power to reduce the stress on test day.
It’s hard to go a day without seeing someone wearing their AP English Exam t-shirt, bought before the exam and then
worn on the day of the exam. This is another one of Toepfer’s tricks.
“It brings a sense of community to the class,” Toepfer says.
So to anyone taking an AP class for the first time, relax, enjoy the ride, and if anything, be in it for the goodie
bags and matching t-shirts.
