Manual will be one of five Kentucky schools to offer the AP Capstone program to students beginning in fall 2015. The program will consist of two courses, AP Seminar and AP Research, which must be taken during two consecutive years.
Students taking AP Seminar will begin by exploring two to four relevant global or national topics and will develop analytical and research skills. The following year, AP Research students will conduct an in-depth study into one issue of their choosing, which will culminate in a 5,000 word thesis and defense.
According to Mr. Jerry Mayes (Principal), the benefits of AP Capstone are two-fold.
“Our job is to constantly reach for new ways to have the great talents of our students come to the forefront,” Mr. Mayes said. “This offers a chance to give credit for work that is being done on a collegiate level, and it will help our students by providing another opportunity to market themselves to colleges. The second thing that this program does for us is that is separates us from any program in Jefferson County. The College Board is not allowing any other Kentucky schools to do a Capstone program, so we will be the only high school in JCPS to offer it.”
Mr. Michael Crain (English) and Ms. Jill Bickel (English) will likely teach a total of three AP Seminar classes next year. The PTSA aims to raise $5,000 as part of their Partners for Excellence fundraiser to send the teachers to College Board training.
“I think that the AP Capstone program could potentially be a very useful class,” said David Yi (9, MST). “Not only does it offer a new class to learn from, but it also encourages the learning of different material that isn’t taught in traditional schools. I think that if I ever have an available block, it could be a high possibility that I will take the class.”
Steffi Taylor (11, HSU) thinks that the program will be especially helpful for students seeking to develop their writing skills. ” I think that the AP Capstone program is an interesting approach of gaining college credits and preparing for university,” she said. “Personally, I like how it offers the chance for students to learn how to write a proper research paper. This course would allow students, especially juniors, who don’t take AP English to have the opportunity to write a paper that would be on the collegiate level.”
