Spotlight on APUSH

AP US History is the only AP class you can take during freshman year in Blake so I asked Mr. Mendenhall, his past students, and his current students, multiple questions including topics like the AP test, the pace of the class, and the workload of the class compared to others.

When asking all the students about Mr. Mendenhall they all had pretty similar answers one saying β€œHe kept our attention pretty well” and another saying β€œHe keeps it fun” also saying that he makes sure they know the content that they have to learn and overall he’s a great teacher. I asked the past students how they were preparing for the AP test. One said, β€œYou should start studying at least a month in advance, maybe two.” Another said while preparing for the AP test they would just β€œLook over notes, try to memorize the,m and take breaks in between each of them.” When asked about what the difference was between AP US History and honors or on-level they said β€œIt was faster because they had to get all nine periods of US History done before May when the AP test was.” Also, whenever they talked to their friends about what they were learning about, they always seemed a bit behind. I asked if future freshmen should take this class and all of them had the same answer of yes saying β€œIt’s your first AP class available and a great introduction to AP classes.”

I also decided to ask the current freshmen about APUSH. My first question was why did they take APUSH? One person said it was because their teacher recommended them to take it and another said it was because she wanted to know β€œWhat an AP class was like.” When I asked how it is so far and how the workload is compared to your expectations and other classes, one Freshman said β€œIt’s more work because my other classes don’t give much homework while APUSH does.” Another said that they get an assignment β€œevery day” which they find helpful towards their tests. They also all had good words to say about Mr. Mendenhall saying that he’s always β€œEnergetic and enjoys what he’s teaching” which gives them more interest in the class itself.

I finally decided to talk to Mr. Mendenhall himself about the class. I asked him what makes AP classes harder than the other classes. He said, β€œIn AP US History we have to learn all of US history from 1491 to the present, while on level and honors are basically a continuation of 8th-grade history from about 1870 to the present, so we just have a shorter amount of time to learn more history.” I asked him for incoming freshman how he would tell them to prepare, and he said to β€œThink about their own workload and personal schedules” so they can know if they have time or not. He also says that the class is β€œBuilding towards the final AP exam.” On the topic of the AP exams, I asked him about his thoughts about it and what he prepares them for. He says that there are four parts of it the β€œMultiple choice questions, the short answer questions, the DBQ, and the long essay.” He says that the way he approaches it isn’t like β€œThere’s an exam, just study for it,” but more like β€œAs we’re learning everything, we’re taking time to focus on each element of the test.” Finally, I told him about all the good reviews I heard about him and asked him why everyone thinks of him as such a good teacher and he says that he β€œJust enjoys the class.”