This fall, West Salem High School debuted a brand new course called Advanced Placement Pre-Calculus. Julie Ann Suderman is the frontrunner for this class, and she hopes it challenges students to grow.
This 2023-2024 year begins a new start to students wanting to achieve more, and AP Pre Calculus allows for this to happen. Suderman described the class as a way of, “Taking everything you’ve learned since kindergarten…and revisiting it in different way.”
This nationwide movement combines concepts specializing in algebra and calculus. The material builds ideas on ideas to stabilize what the next step up will bring.
Suderman’s hopes this class will be challenging for students but in a way they can handle. AP Pre Calc junior Maria Loaeza noted that she took this class to attain more opportunities in higher level colleges and even at jobs. She described the beginning of the course to be a challenge, but she was able to get a good hang of it moving forward after understanding the concepts that AP Pre Calc offers.
Loaeza also described the workload as easygoing while there is only one assignment given per class. On the other hand, the class moves at a quick pace and would be recognized as challenging if assigned work was not completed.
Suderman expressed her goals for the class would be for everyone to not only get a passing grade, but learn the material in the most impactful way possible.
The dynamic of the class is something that Suderman appreciates. The idea of understanding the subject is a team effort for everyone. She says the part she likes most is students challenging her with high level questions that trigger mature conversations to evolve on a mathematical level. Suderman said, “It’s like having an intelligent conversation with 30 people.”
AP Pre Calc is a class that pushes students to problem solve not only with teachers but individually. Suderman made the point that the extra work given allows for these students to reach deeper concepts and research the views of why and how specific problems work, which sets up students for full on success moving forward.
