APHuG Parent's Information Page

Whether a student should take an AP class or not is a personal decision for the student and their parents.  While there are some incentives to taking AP courses in terms of potential college credit or advanced standing in college, I think the more important and longer lasting benefit is learning how to work in a more rigorous, analytical and application of knowledge learning environment.    

My philosophy for this particular course is that if you student is willing to accept the challenge and do the work that they are capable of learning a lot from this class.  If they are interested in the subject matter and want to learn more about spatial thinking, cultures, landscapes and human interaction then indeed this may be a course for them. 

In terms of their high school career this will be the first AP course offered to them and it will allow them to get their feet wet in the demands and whether a student should take an AP class or not is a personal decision for the student and their parents.  While there are some incentives to taking AP courses in terms of potential college credit or advanced standing in college, I think the more important and longer lasting benefit is learning how to work in a more rigorous, analytical and application of knowledge learning environment.    

As the first experience with AP in their high school career this is where they will learn what AP learning is all about.  Regardless of the Exam score that they achieve they will have engaged in a rigorous learning experience.  They will learn how to engage BIG IDEAS and to be able to apply those ideas to any set of facts or situation.  They will learn how to think about concepts, ideas and situations to make reasoned and educated responses to the questions on the exam and in life.  

More practically, research tells us that students who take AP classes earlier do better over the course of the high school career on AP courses and that they are more likely than not to take additional AP classes. Regardless of the score admissions officers see a freshman taking on the challenge of AP and they see a serious learner.    

Parent support and interest is important for all students.  As students get older that support looks different.  For this course, just thinking out loud or pondering spatial questions with your student about the landscape in front of them is a huge boost for them.  For instance, if you took a ride down Putnam Hill road from the schools into the village of Manchaug (which both strangely and typically many of our students have never been to Manchaug village) you will see a dramatic change in the landscape from a rolling hill agricultural/residential landscape to a more densely populated former mill village common to the Blackstone Valley.   Just ponder questions about what they see, why things are where they are or were?  Take a wrong turn once in a while to see where it goes, how does it connect to other places that you do know?   I did this with my own family, and when they all got a little exasperated I would just tell them that we were expanding our mental maps.  They used to make fun of me but now as young adults they share an appreciation for us having done so and my youngest is a fairly good navigator and explorer herself!  

Talk about places and cultures in the news discuss the challenges and concerns.  This is immeasurably helpful when we talk about issues of population, culture, religion, health and economy in the classroom.  In this class we look at those things a little bit differently (spatially) than in other classes and we are looking for connections to better understand.  

One last example is an assignment that you will become an integral part of.  In late October or so, we will be working in the Population and Migration Unit.  Each year I assign a long term assignment called the Family Migration Project in which I want students to look at their own families migration stories.  How did they come to be where they are?  This is a fun family history/genealogy activity for students to talk to you, their extended family and others to better understand the concepts of human migration in the context of their own family history.  Students will have access to a classroom version of Ancestry Classroom and hopefully, this year we will also have access to American Ancestors databases to find family information.  Students have a lot of fun with this project, and it is a little dangerous getting caught up in the genealogy piece, but our focus is on the why of where they were and where they came to be.  

ArcGIS Online is a tool that your student will you throughout the course of the year.  This is not a required part of the AP curriculum but is a valuable tool for them to better understand the concepts that we learn in the class and provided them with advanced geographic analysis and GIS skills for their future.   From the beginning of the course you student will be exposed to the Geographic Inquiry Model to investigate, evaluate, and problem solve spatially based questions and concerns.  Through the use of Geographic Information Systems they will be able to apply that research model to a plethora of problems and inquiries.  

ArcGIS is the industry standard in Geographic Information Systems and is produced by ESRI.  Students will be given login credentials that will be available for them for their four years here at Sutton High School and they will have the skills to provide a variety of skills, analysis and presentation of spatial information.  

After the AP exam students will conduct their own independent Geographic Inquiry Project and their final exam will be a poster study demonstrating the process and presenting what they have learned. 

For those of you who may not know me my name is Michael Whittier and I have been a teacher here in Sutton for 31 years and with the district 43 years.  ( I am not that old, but started working for the district when I was 15, so) I am actually at that point in my career when I get a little scared to find out how many of my students are children of my former students, but let's not go there.  In this time I have also formerly served as a seasonal police officer for the Town of Barnstable and a part-time police officer for the Town of Sutton as well as the Officer in Charge of the former Lake Patrol of the police department. I also taught graduate education courses in Instructional Technology and Curriculum for Worcester State University for 12 years as an Adjunct Senior Instructor. 

I have been the Social Science body in the History & Social Sciences Department at Sutton High School teaching courses in A.P. Human Geography, American Government, CIVICS, Geography of Nutrition, Food and Culture, and Criminal Justice, VHS Criminology and Crime, Law and Society.  I hold an A.S. degree in Criminal Justice, a B.S. Degree in Sociology and Masters of Education degree in Secondary Education.  I have attended Cape Cod Community College and Worcester State College (now University).  I have the equivalent of a minor in Geography.  (still kicking myself for not filling out that paper work)  

Aside from these formal education credentials I have also have been certified as a Level 1 Crime Analyst, Trained in Online Learning through Virtual High School, and as a T3G (Teachers Teaching Teachers GIS) Trainer through ESRI.  In particular, for this class I have on three occasions been invited by the College Board to read AP Human Geography Free Response Questions have read between 1500-1800 student responses each of those year.  In 2025, I invited to be a Table Leader working with 9 well-qualified educators from around the country scoring thousands of the 282,000 exams this year. This has provided great insight for students for the FRQ's in our class. 

My academic interests are in the Geography of Crime, Geography of Food, Political Geography and Population.