Sometimes, prayers do get answered. In our December 2015 edition, The Campanile printed an editorial imploring the administrators of Palo Alto High School to add a non-AP level calculus course, a request that was recently honored, much to our delight.
We would like to take this opportunity to commend the Board of Education and the Math Department for coming to the aid of many of our readers who are struggling to succeed in Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus AB, and also for adding several new courses for Paly’s future generations to enjoy.
As an institution, Paly will reap benefits from these additions, not just immediately but also for many years to come.
Our school, already a breeding ground for the “Next Big Thing”, will begin churning out scholars at an astonishing pace.
AP Capstone will inject a dose of innovation into the Advanced Authentic Research (AAR) classes by giving students the opportunity to change the world without the hassle of enrolling in an 8th period class. Web Development will produce hundreds of budding programmers, hell-bent on shaking up the global tech behemoth and acquiring wealth in the process.
Our journalism program will also burgeon thanks to the additions of Photojournalism, Intro to Broadcasting, Client Based Production and Radio Broadcast (I and II), crafting muckrakers to guide us all through the Trumponion fray. Even the course, yoga, admittedly an unconventional addition, will spice up the banal physical education curriculum.
Obsequiousness aside, we urge the Board of Education to continue listening to student input. With a rising student population and the increasing need to stand out in a world full of high school geniuses, unique and creative courses are a great way for prestigious schools to stay ahead.
Now is not the time to rest on our laurels and praise Paly for all of its accomplishments. Rather, it is a good moment to pat ourselves on the back and keep the curriculum fresh.
Paly is an exceptional place of learning, and only by pushing the limits of classroom instruction can students and teachers benefit. In more simple terms for our friends at the Board: you did well.
At times like these, we at The Campanile find ourselves somewhat tongue tied. We believe that our purpose is to serve as a vital check and balance in the Paly community, and we will not hesitate to make a big stink when we smell injustice.
Justice, however, has been served — and with satisfaction across the board at that.
We’d like to thank all of our readers, especially those on the Board, for working together as a community to make these new classes possible. There are few feelings finer than success, and fewer still more satisfying than success through compromise.
