In Phoenix Military Academy, AP Chemistry was introduced last year; however, it dropped some student’s grades and changed their schedules.

Students in AP Chemistry are engaged in  a very rigorous class with only 98 minutes of working, studying, taking notes and asking questions. The class is so intense, however, that  it demands much more time.  More than half  of the students are  failing, and ultimately, not one person has passed the AP exam thus making it one the hardest class in Phoenix.

Mr. Bernthal, the AP Chemistry teacher, is not to blame. ’ Last year was   his first year teaching it and because students were not  fully enthusiastic about the class because it was time consuming and hard.

This school year, Phoenix hopes to seek a change in the zero percent pass rate. Students are taking AP Chemistry every day, along with an additional chemistry class during third period which is being taught by Mr. Chara. Students now have higher grades than last year.“This is a hard test, extremely hard, so I’m hoping at least have 3 to 6 people pass the test,” said Mr. Chara.

But some students are still worried.

“I do not have enough time to do anything! I don’t want to fail this class because it is AP. I can earn credit for college and boost up my GPA, however, that may not be true because I’m not really passing my classes because of chemistry,” said senior Edna Gonzales

Passing through the hallways of Phoenix, students complain about the little sleep they have had because of studying.

“I don’t want to hear you say AP chemistry this, AP Chemistry that. You need to balance your time, or you must choose to fail that class rather than failing more than one class because of it,” said Pre-Calculus teacher Mr. Cross.
Hopefully this year we see a change within the AP Chemistry class.  The students seem to be working really hard, therefore, good results are expected.