The Bright and Promising Future of New AP Courses

Next year the Needham High curriculum will take a big leap and introduce more advanced placement courses to the curriculum. Needham High currently offers 24 AP classes and while this may seem like a lot, many Needham High Students are pushing for the school to offer more. 

This year, the College Board developed some new AP courses that have been described as “innovative and groundbreaking” and will be open to schools this coming school year. Given NHS students' general unrest with the current  lack of varied AP courses to choose from, Principal Sicotte believes, “adding these new AP courses is the obvious next step to ensure both teachers and students can have more opportunity to experience extremely rigorous AP courses.” 

Below is a list of the new APs Needham will be offering: 

AP Dodgeball

(4 credits) Full Year Grade 12

Advanced Placement Dodgeball offers students the unique opportunity to delve into the study of dodgeball. Students will participate in many tournaments, projects, and exams that push students to learn how to excel in the art of dodgeball and target games. At the end of the year, students will write an extensive paper on the science and tactics behind dodgeball and also participate in a dodgeball game where they are scored out of 100 points based on the number of faces they hit. The AP exam will consist of four games pre-chosen target games by the college board, where students will be scored out of 5 based on their dodging and balling skills. 

AP Study

(8 credits) Full Year Grade 11-12

In AP Study, students have the opportunity to experience a course designed to enhance students' concept and ability for laziness and procrastination. Students will learn key practices in AP Study such as sitting in the library and staring at your phone in front of your computer screen and telling yourself “I’ll start my work in a minute,” then continuing to scroll on Tik Tok for the entirety of the block and also going home to take a nap. Additionally, due to AP Study’s rigorous lack of structure or direction, the course requires a double block to ensure students are given sufficient time to discover their potential for laziness. 

AP Jumproping 

(4 credits) Full Year Grade 12

According to the college board, AP Jump Roping is “the most rigorous and intensive AP course currently offered by the board,” with an estimated passing rate of 5%. Throughout the course, students will be held to extremely high standards and expected to master 100 jump roping skills, most notably the twist, the roundhouse kick flip, and the death jump. AP Jumproping students will not only learn difficult jump roping skills, but will study the intricacies of a jump rope and write a 25 page final paper on the symbolism of jump roping. 

To put into perspective the intensity of this course, one student, who participated in the AP Jumproping trial run, issued the following warning to prospective AP jump roping students:  “If you can’t do anything past a criss cross, save yourself before it’s too late and drop AP Jumproping.” 

AP Gossip

(4 credits) Full Year Grade 12

AP Gossip is a course that focuses on the study of rumors and how to partake in effective and informative gossip. Advanced Placement Gossip is a wonderful class for anyone who is interested in the field of communication or journalism. Students will be expected to take extensive notes on the gossip they hear throughout the school day, and will be tested on it at the end of each week. Students have the chance to receive extra credit by spreading rumors themselves. On the AP exam, Gossip students will write two essays on the juiciest gossip heard throughout the course as well as an essay on a rumor they spread and how it affected the people around them; the more lives ruined, the higher a student can expect their score to be! 

The college board has been working tirelessly these past couple years to develop AP courses that seem to truly prepare students for the many opportunities for target gameplay, nap taking, kick flip jump roping, and rumor spreading that they are sure to encounter in higher education and beyond.