When Mr. Don Wagner retired at the end of last year, AP Psychology as a class disappeared forever.  It was replaced by IB Psychology taught my Mr. Ky Dietz.  Surprisingly, many students chose to enroll in both. 

IB Pyschology continues to be a college level class where you will learn about psychology, human behaviors, mental process, and psychology theories. 

West has switched the class from an AP to an IB class because West is an IB school looking to grow its program. 

“It got switched because the people that are in the higher positions, decided that because we are an IB school we should have IB Psych,” stated Dietz.

The difference between the AP and IB class, is that for the IB class instead of it being multiple choice questions like the AP test, it will be a short response question. “If you really enjoy short answer writing, then it’s right up your alley,” Dietz said. 

Junior Antje Terpstra, a former AP Psychology student, expressed how she enjoyed AP Psych and how it prepared you for college. “It was very much like  a lecture hall, where it would be at an university where Mr. Wagner, would stand in the front and talk.” said Terpstra. 

“The workload was really easy, we got new vocabulary every new unit, and you had to study it,” she addded. 

Junior Cain Gonzalez is currently taking IB psychology. He expressed how this is his first psych class ever and how he is enjoying this class.”It’s really fun and challenging,”  said Gonzalez. “It’s really fun to do the experiments, because we can work with each other, share ideas and socialize about the topic we are learning.”