By: Nora Fivecoat
This year Columbus High added the AP STEM Pathway for incoming freshmen who want to be exposed to college-level coursework and are also interested in science or technology.
The pathway is strictly invitation-only. To be invited, you need to have taken a high school math and science class in middle school, and you need to have outstanding grades in middle school in your classes and on standardized tests.
This year, there were around 45 students invited to the program, and 36 students are taking the program.
Zechariah Houston (9) says, “I enjoy the program, and I feel like it is preparing me for the future.”
The pathway starts with AP Environmental Science. Then, as sophomores, students take AP Biology. As juniors, they will take AP Chemistry, and as seniors, they will take AP Physics.
Upperclassmen are also offered these classes, but their labs are different. Also, the students in the AP STEM pathway participate in a WE Service project, which the upperclassmen don’t do.
The WE Service project allows students to apply what they have learned to the real world. They will find a problem in the community and use what they have learned throughout the year to find a solution.
The course taken by freshmen is AP Environmental Science. Mrs. Mace, the science department chair, teaches this class to all of the students in the pathway.
She explained that the program is “focused on hands-on application of learning.” She also said that “we work a lot on collaboration.”
This pathway is a good introduction to Advanced Placement classes for freshmen, especially those who intend on pursuing a career in the technology or science fields. Taking this path can give students a leg up in the medical field, and it helps students become more competitive for scholarships and admittance to Ivy League schools.
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