Forgotten elective, back up and running

Ryan Glover l Digital Editor

An elective forgotten, thrown away to never be seen by a student again was the story of AP art history, until a group of students and the art department decided to bring it back. AP art history is a class that is offered every year to students, but for the past few years it has been unable to run. Due to its slim popularity the class has not gotten enough students to run.

Mrs. Dissinger, an art teacher, took charge and decided to teach the class. Art and history teachers came up with ideas and had a clever way to spread the word about the class.

“Mrs. Dresch, the history teachers, and I pushed the course last year through word of mouth and with flyers,” said Dissinger. “A great group of persistent students who wanted the course to run got together and helped get the word out.  This year we were able to fill the class with 19 students!”

In the class, students learn to examine major forms of artistic expression relevant to a variety of cultures evident in a wide variety of periods from the past to the present. Mrs. Dissinger tries to make it fun for herself and the students. So far, she believes the class is running great, and she is having a blast teaching it.

“This is one of my absolute favorite classes to teach,” said Dissinger. “It is a ton of extra work outside of the school day (for me), but it is so much fun and the group of students couldn’t be more enjoyable,” said Dissinger.

In order to get students to learn all the information needed, the class must be taught in the best way possible. Dissinger is trying her best, but for a teacher teaching a new course this is no easy task. Senior Stella Ludwig, a student in the class, talked highly about Mrs. Dissinger’s teaching.

“I think she’s doing really well at teaching it,” said Ludwig. “It’s her first year so you’d expect there to be a learning curve for the teacher and the students, but I think she is doing a great job of balancing lectures with immersive activities to keep engaged.”

Students who took the class are also really enjoying it so far this year. Usually, people dread going to an AP class during the day, but this is not true for senior Nick Garman, he enjoys everything that the class has to offer.

“I really like how the history aspect of the class ties into the art aspect of the class,” said Garman. “The lectures take you through various artworks that have contextual significance to the age they were created in."

How the class is taught is very important for the enjoyment of the class, but who is in the class can also play a huge role in the overall satisfaction of course.

“Everyone in the class is really nice so it’s a fun room to be in whenever we are doing activities and collaborating,” said Garman.