This year, dance teacher, Jackie Clawson, has recognized the amount of time and effort her students put into the Dance 4 class. Clawson decided to give the students the credit they deserve from all of their hard work to pursue turning the Dance 4 class into a Pre AP class.

“There’s so much involved with the curriculum already in the Dance 4 class,” Clawson said. “It overlaps with a lot of different areas that the Pre AP would connect with.”

When the option of turning Dance 4 into a Pre AP class was brought to attention, the students had to think of how this change would benefit them. The Dance 4 students came to the conclusion that a Pre AP class would help them be better prepared for college and would teach them how to dig deeper into their education in dance.

With the idea of making the course a distinguished Pre AP class, Clawson and the Dance 4 students had to discuss the changes that would affect their curriculum. Clawson and the dance students realized that by making the transition to AP, there would be a large shift in the dynamic of the class.

“It would be a lot more written work,” Clawson said. “So pretty much besides the dance portion of it, you would also be responsible for learning the history of dance and also written portions of it. It would be like an English class, a history, and a dance class combined.”

Besides the effects on the class, Clawson had to think about how this change would effect the dance program. By changing the class, Clawson hopes that it will not affect who chooses to audition for the dance team or be a part of the class.

“The negative side of it was it would have to be an all or nothing,” Clawson said. “If it was an AP class, those that were wanting to try out for dance team, it might be a turn off if they do not want the load of an AP class.”

Sophomore Lily Dodge just started her second year in the Dance 4 class. Dodge was interested when she heard about the class being changed, but then realized all of the effects that would come out of switching the class.

“I feel that the class would have lost its actual dancing aspect, and it would become more like a history class,” Dodge said. “We would have more work like a regular class.”

Clawson and the Dance 4 students decided to stay with their current class arrangements and reconsider this option in the future.

“Since it’s a brand new Pre AP course in dance, I want to see who has done it and next year, I can see how people did it and follow their curriculum and see if it really will work for us,” Clawson said.