While the most advanced English class sophomores could take used to be English 10 High Honors, it has now been replaced with AP English Seminar. This new class is an advanced course focusing on public speaking skills, collaboration, research, and critical and creative thinking.

“The English 10 High Honors was..a literature based class, the AP Seminar was really focusing on academic research skills, presentation skills and different things like that,” Bryan Ammer, the AP English Seminar teacher, said. “We covered some of the same bases in the English 10 High Honors, but with this one it really is directed toward a more nonfiction, research-based curriculum.”

AP Seminar is not only new to Oakwood, but it’s new as a class all together. There have been changes at other schools as well. 

“AP Seminar is a relatively new class, so some schools are using that as one of the core English classes and so I think as a district and as an English department, [they] decided that this was an opportunity that they wanted to pursue,” Ammer said.     

The course entails many changes, as is to be expected. Sophomores taking the class are experiencing the differences between this new course and previous English classes. 

“The main thing that’s different is the amount of freedom that I have and the way that it’s, again, very open ended,” Gabriella LaPerle (10) said. “When you have such general prompts and such general topics to go off of, you can really go and branch out in any direction that you want to, which is very different from the very structured and regimented English classes in the past that I’ve had.” 

With all of these changes, it’s expected for nerves and problems to come up. 

“The fact that it relies on fellow classmates is a little stressful,” Veronica Oehlers (10) said. “I’m just not really a big fan of group projects, plus I think that with everyone having different schedules and priorities it can be hard to find time to get it all done.” 

However, AP English Seminar gives students great challenges over the year. 

“It’s left a lot of my work as open-ended, so I have to produce a lot of..the ideas and the way that I do things on my own.” LaPerle said.
Upperclassmen, however, were not given these opportunities as sophomores. 

“I think it would have been really nice,” Lily Oehlers (12) said. “It’s a good opportunity to take more AP courses early on in your high school career.”

AP English Seminar is a good class for students looking for a challenge in English, and for those who have an A in English I, or a final grade of B or higher in English I H. So if you’re a freshman, there are now new opportunities waiting for you in sophomore year.