Last spring, as sophomore students at Greeley West High School were choosing classes, they saw a big change in their English options. Instead of the several different options (American Literature, AP Language, Minorities Literature, etc..), they could only pick from two. These two options were IB Language and Literature: Standard Level or IB Language and Literature: Higher Level.
West’s department heads have been planning this switch for quite a while and have great things to say. Ms. Amanda Weis said. “The classes for the freshman and sophomores were perfectly aligned, but then the students got to their junior year and the English classes got to be very inconsistent.”
In an effort to keep a consistent approach to learning, Weiss acknowledged choice became more limited. She explained, “We believe the choice is still important but we needed more consistency. With the school being an International Baccalaureate school, we believed the IB for all would be the perfect fit for our juniors,” Weis said.
Lots of students became very nervous, not knowing what to expect. But, as classes started, those same students were filled with relief. Junior Elizabeth Chihuahua Chairez said, “I was unsure at first, but I´m really enjoying the texts we study and the class. It gives me a bigger challenge that I am not used to while still letting me enjoy English.”
Some seniors at West, have only taken the IB English route and have lots of great things to say about it. Senior, Jeremy Piacenza says he started out picking IB Language and Composition and loved it. ¨I got to learn so much from that class and the different theories and such. Taking the junior year class that led into my current English class has been great. I feel like they work very well together,¨ Piacenza stated.
