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Project AP-way

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Ben Goldschlager

AP classes are viewed as some of the toughest courses that Staples has to offer. However, most have their final in mid-May since the College Board’s AP tests are given then, so teachers have to find some way to fill the last month or so of school.

The answer? Projects.

Joseph Jelen has assigned his AP Government students to choose a local issue and plan a campaign on how to solve it.

“My partner and I are working on making personal finance a mandatory part of the [Staples] curriculum,” Adam Skolnick ’14 said. “We feel that this class is important because it teaches finance skills that everyone needs to know in today’s world.”

Joel Kabak has assigned his AP Biology students a presentation project. The project, according to Avery Wallace ’13, is about “anything of [the student’s] choice as long as it has to do with biology.” Wallace is studying endorphins.

And Michael Aitkenhead has assigned his AP Environmental Science students “a ‘problem-based learning’ project where the students get to choose between several projects,” said Hannah Myers ’14.

All three students reported enjoying their various projects and learning something along the way.

“[Our personal finance project] ties a lot of the things we learned this year together, and we can apply the stuff we did with tangible results rather than hypothetical activities,” Skolnick said.

Wallace agreed but for a different reason.

“I like [the AP Biology project] because it gives us a chance to research about something that we’re personally interested in,” she said.

Overall, the AP projects close the year in a fun, rewarding way.

“I actually really enjoy the project because it’s different from what we normally do in the class, and it brings in our knowledge from many different subject areas,” Myers said.

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About the Contributors
Simon Stracher, Social Media Managing Editor
Ben Goldschlager, Web News Editor

Ben Goldschlager ’14 is an involved member of the Staples and Westport communities. He’s the president of the Model UN and Artists’ Club, the web news editor for Inklings and is involved in Debate Team, Junior States of America and Young Democrats.

Goldschlager has also spent time volunteering at the library working with the new 3D printers. He gets to train people from the ages of 7 to 60 on how to use them, and he can print things for fun and for practical reasons.

“We have a bookcase at my house that uses these little plastic pins to support the shelves,” Goldschlager said, “but we’d lost two, so I designed and printed two replacement pins and they work.”

After writing his favorite piece, “5 Ways to Seem Like You Get Pop Culture” last year, Goldschlager is excited to come back for a second year of reporting for Inklings.

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