Students Buckle Down for Tests That Have 'Meaning'

More than 600 Brewster High School (BHS) students are feverishly preparing for the Advanced Placement (AP) exams they will take over the next two weeks.

Between Monday and May 13, officials will administer exams that span 17 academic subjects—from studio art to calculus and biology—to 624 ambitious students. The exams, which are scored on a a five-point scale starting at one, are the final challenges in AP courses. The classes aim to provide high schoolers with college-like study experiences.

Assistant Principal Elizabeth Higgins said AP environmental science is the most popular of the courses, with 95 students enrolled in the class this year. That number is up from last year by 36 students, a statistic that speaks to the way many students prioritize their classes.

“20 percent of last year’s tenth graders scored fours and fives,” she explained. “On the AP English Language and Composition last year, 87 percent [of BHS students] got a three or higher. That’s almost unheard of.”

But given the English teacher leading those students, the grades may not seem too surprising. At the head of that classroom is Marcus Eure, a 2010 recipient of the Milken Foundation Award. He was one of 55 teachers nationwide to receive the honor.

Eure has been preparing his students all year long, consistently providing feedback on their writing via a website he designed specifically for the class. He explained that his subject requires a different approach than many of the other AP exams, which often require memorization of facts.

“It’s skill-based, so there’s a difference,” he said. “You can practice, but you can’t study. I expect them to do well.”

Down the hall in one of the science labs, Pete Lanoreaux is preparing roughly 60 students for the AP Physics exam with a multifaceted approach to the material.

“We do a lot of practice problems in class, we do practice tests, we hold study sessions both during the day and before school and after school,” he said. “I give them assignments for homework and they work collaboratively on those. Collaboration is a huge component to being successful in this class.”

Lanoreaux also serves as the coordinator for a group of six students that is preparing for the AP Physics C: Mechanics exam. The material for this specialized test is presented through an online, mostly self-taught process.

Nick Corrao, a junior in Eure’s course, said that his teacher has prepared the class well, especially for the three writing prompts that comprise the majority of the exam. 

“We’re all pretty much prepared for the essay part of it because we do so much writing in here,” he said. “The multiple choice part, I’m a little more skeptical about.”

Jess Blumberg, another of Eure’s students and also a junior, agreed with the varying emotions going into the exam.

“I feel ready,” she said. “It’s just that there’s always that stress going into a test.”

Corrao elaborated on that anxiety, pointing out the very real motivation for the students to do well on their exams.

“I really want to make sure I get a four on them, because we’re paying $80 a test compared to $3,000 a class in college,” he said. “So getting the credits now would make not just our lives easier, but also our family’s lives. So it’s added more stress, but it’s also encouraging; it’s not just another test, it’s a test with meaning.”

Colleges generally do not accept AP credits unless students score above a three or four on the exam. Blumberg agreed with her peer's sentiments, but said that she’s not worrying about her score just yet.

“It’s not even about the grade for me,” she said. “I want to leave the test and say to myself and say, ‘I did the best I could.’”

Faculty members keep an eye out to make sure that students can handle their course loads. The school employs an open enrollment procedure for AP classes, meaning any student is eligible. Regardless, decisions are made in coordination with school officials to ensure that students do not find themselves in over their heads, Higgins said.

“The guidance counselors and teachers truly do pay attention to each individual student’s ability to handle their given course load," she said.

Southeast-Brewster Patch wishes the students good luck!