From the teacher that brought you the I am AP club—a serviceable, super-system of student support and tutoring—comes a bigger and better college readiness program: AP Capstone.

  “No matter what college experience you think you’re going to have, this class is the perfect preparation to go to college, because you learn how to research intentionally and write academically; you also collaborate and work with your peers, and that’s something that you’re going to have to do in college,” said Mrs. Markgraf, the AP English Language and Composition teacher.

  After a couple of years training in preparation for College Board’s fairly new program, Mrs. Markgraf is eager to announce AP Seminar as the hottest course available to all grades for the 2019-2020 school year, making Mission Hills High School one of the first schools to offer this program in San Diego county.

  “If there’s any class that I could think of that is engaging but also prepares students, it’s this one. I’m so excited that we’re going to offer it at Mission Hills. I think we have so many students who are curious and passionate about something and willing to work for it, and this is a class for those students,” Mrs. Markgraf said.

  AP Capstone is a two-year program that will begin with AP Seminar, a course that challenges you to broaden your perspective in discussions where your opinion and interests matter while also preparing you for AP Research—the succeeding course—in which you will investigate and share discoveries made on both a topics of choice and given themes. Consider this a chance to show others a fresh perspective on a topic they may know little about.

  “I want to make this as manageable as possible. My goal is that students take this class and have fun doing it; we will maximize our class time, and I will limit homework as much as possible. I honestly think people will find themselves working on this class outside of school even if they don’t have to, because they’re going to be doing something that they’re really passionate about,” Mrs. Markgraf said.

  Like all other AP courses, it will have a weighted grade along with an end of the year exam. But don’t fret; it does not require hours of multiple choice and essay writing, simply a project-based profile you create throughout the year, so start the year smart by selecting AP Seminar. If you have any questions regarding this new course, please contact Mrs. Markgraf by emailing her at [email protected] or stopping by room 540.