You walk into your first AP class. There weren’t any honors options, but you still wanted a challenge. The first few weeks are manageable but the further you get into the school year, you notice the class becomes more demanding and stressful. The only option is to move down to CP, but it becomes too easy and lacks challenge.

WHS offers 22 honors courses and 24 AP courses. Some students feel that more honors classes are applied to some subjects than others, which creates an unfair balance between the courses causing students to struggle in AP when they can’t handle the extra pressure.

WHS needs a more even distribution of honors-level courses throughout their offered subjects. Limiting students to just AP and CP discourages students to try a more complex level since there is such a drastic academic difference between the two.

Some may argue that AP and honors courses are the same difficulty, but an AP course offers a more rigorous college-style environment whereas honors simply covers the same materials as CP classes but in a faster and more detailed schedule.

Students that have never taken an AP or honors course before are less inclined to step out of their comfort zone and take on the challenge of a more challenging class if there is only the basic course or the college level. While some are able to thrive in a harder environment, others find it more adaptable in a less aggressive environment.

When students are offered more options, the advanced classes seem more appealing when they know they could make a good effort and not struggle in the class. With more variety, students can become more prepared for the future and learn helpful learning habits that they were never exposed to before.

Students that do take on the challenge of AP courses for the first time are exposed to a stressful environment from the start with the amount of outside work required to stay caught up in the class.

WHS needs to reevaluate the distribution of its honors courses for the benefit of its students. This would allow students to learn to the best of their ability and prepare them properly with the comfort of a less demanding and stressful environment.