Upcoming AP Testing

The AP tests are coming and the deadline to sign up is vanishing. The last day to sign up for AP tests is the fifth of March. All the AP tests “happen over a two-week period, it’s a pre-set schedule, it’s pretty much the same schedule every year so for example, biology is always the second Monday of May in the morning and world history is always the Thursday after that in the morning.” says biology teacher Mr. Cory Marshall.

There is a lot of AP test that students can take. At first, there were about three AP tests and now there are about twenty-two AP tests offered to students. Marshall says, “physics, chemistry, biology, earth science,…calc A and B, two different physics ones,…English,…Spanish,… computer science,…there’s the two history ones,” are just some of the AP tests that Camas High School offers. Other than the number of AP tests offered, the number of students that take the AP tests have grown. “We’ve gone from giving 100 tests or less to 1400. I used to be able to take all the AP tests and fit them in a closet,… they now take a whole room,” says Mrs. Susie Keeney. With the increased number of students taking the AP tests, the expectations about taking an AP test rise as well.

With all these tests comes the maximum security. For the AP tests, the security is very secure. “Prior to the test, I have to always keep the tests under lock and key with not a lot of people having access to that key… and during the test, the security is increased like you can’t have cellphones or anything in the room” to make sure no information can be gathered or shared explains Keeney.

Besides getting college credit if students pass, students also “…learn and practice taking a large test in a limited amount of time” says Sophomore Ria Patel, who is in AP biology. Keeney believes that “it prepares [students] for college classes in a safe environment of high school and then when they move on to college they are feeling like wow, I can do this.” Even Marshall reassures, “It’s a really good opportunity to practice that were the consequences don’t mean very much at all if you don’t pass it, it’s kind of a win or neutral scenario. You either pass it and get credit or you don’t pass but there’s still other ancillary benefits that go along with it.” The AP test won’t do anything to the students’ grades at Camas High School if the student doesn’t pass the AP test.

In the past, “we’ve always used large areas like the North Commons or the gym, or if we’ve had to, the library, even a classroom… This year, I believe, we’re gonna try and use the facility that was Lacamas Heights Elementary, use that gymnasium so it’s; off-campus, less disruptive, quieter. We’ll give that a try,” informs Mrs. Keeney. No matter where the AP tests take place, the outcome of the test will either do nothing or give the students college credit and an experience that will help them in the future.