WELCOME AP WARRIORS!

AP courses originated over 50 years ago in the northeastern part of the United States. We started our AP History program at BRFHS in 1991 and this year will mark our 20TH year.  The intention of AP is to give high school students the opportunity to experience the study of various disciplines at a college level. That’s really what AP is all about. When you enrolled in this course, you became part of the BRFHS AP community and will get a chance to study the subject of history in a more sophisticated way than you would in a normal survey class. More than 400 students have been part of that fraternity over the years!

I use the word community when describing my AP students because I expect this to be a TEAM EFFORT. We need to develop a high level of ESPRIT DE CORPS (look it up!) in a challenging course such as this!  I have been working with advanced history students in one way or another since I started teaching in 1979 -- this year will mark my 31st year of teaching.  Certainly history can be studied independently, and much of your work will be of an independent nature. Nevertheless, in order for us to truly interact with the subject of history, we must hear the voices of other students. We must also interact with the authors that we read --- they are part of our community as well. If we fail to operate collectively, our depth of understanding will be diminished.

The word COMMUNITY also indicates that there are shared values and practices among the various members.  I preach the idea of REFLECTIVE ENGAGEMENT to you throughout the course.  What values and practices will help you become reflectively engaged as we proceed?  Let me suggest the following:      

#1: Developing the heart and mind of a scholar (this is big!)

#2: Being willing to take full responsibility for your education

#3: Learning to read more critically and to interpret challenging information

#4: Developing confidence with verbal skills by interacting with others

#5: Learning to write historical essays

#6: Learning to interpret primary historical documents

#7: Becoming more effective at using the world wide web for research

#8: Getting in tune with what is going on currently in the news

#9: Developing a greater appreciation for the subject of history

If you stay focused on these 9 things as we proceed, I can guarantee you that you will walk out of this class a stronger and more prepared student. My hope for all of you is that you have a great year with AP History.

Yours in history,

PS RYKKEN   2009-10