As registration starts people are signing up for classes that interest them the most, often times looking ahead to classes offered in future years. One class that won’t be at West long is AP Psychology. Mr. Don Wagner is the only teacher to have ever taught the subject at Greeley West and when he retires next year, the class will disappear forever.
Junior Gavin Petersen is enjoying the AP Psych class this year and has his opinion on the matter. “AP Psych is really successful because of Mr. Wagners’ teaching style. He tells background stories from his past which relates to the definitions being taught and it helps people better understand,” Petersen stated.
Once Wagner retires, the class will shift to IB like English classes did ext year. This will be a big change for certain class content. “It will be a big change because IB and AP are different. The focus of the class will change because you would be more focused on the writing part of the test,” Petersen said.
Senior Tucker Hurley took regular Psychology and now is in AP Psychology. He enjoyed both, but agrees the school should move forward with IB. “It (the class) needs to take the route it’s going to. Wagner has done a great job with AP but if they want us to be an IB school I understand them going to IB,” Hurley said.
This year social studies teacher Mr. Ky Dietz got to teach regular psychology this year because there was so much demand for the class. “There was an opening because we didn’t have enough classes for the amount of kids who wanted to take psychology so I was able to share a few psychology classes with Mr.Wagner,” Dietz stated. “It seems like that’s the push that everything will be IB in the next few years, I feel excited about being able to teach it when the IB class comes around,” Dietz said.
Wagner brought psychology to life at West and is glad to see where it is today. “ Psych is so popular because people wonder why they act and behave like they do and they wonder about mental health,” Wagner stated, downlplaying his significance in class enrollment.
“I was happy to see a lot of sections of psychology. People are being proactive in learning about their own behaviors and it’s great. It’s one of my goals in my career for people to be open and more interested in their mental health,” Wagner explained.
As Wagner taught AP, he is more biased towards AP classes over IB classes. “I’m AP because it challenges kids – it’s a very college-prep type course. I will be disappointed and sad when I see AP Psych go away, but IB psych is for the future,” Wagner stated.
