April 2020

4/23/2020

AP Exams Moved to Online Format

Most of the Advanced Placement exams have been converted into a shortened, online format, where students can take the exam at home (or still in a school setting, if they reopen) on any device.

The College Board has set the Primary Testing schedule to run from Monday, May 11 through Friday, May 22. Make up exams are scheduled Monday, June 1 through Friday, June 5.

In order to have all test takers testing at the same time across the nation (and some international), the College Board has set the testing times for the East Coast at 12 noon, 2 pm, and 4 pm. Each of the exams will consist of a 45 minute free response question (some have only 1 longer question, while others have 2 shorter ones). There are no AP tests that will run at the same time, so there are no testing conflicts on the AP side. The late testing occur if there is a technical issue that pops up for a student. Some of the exams will only have a Portfolio submission portion (Studio Art - reduced amount for portfolio, Computer Science Principles and Seminar - removed written portion). These submission deadlines have been pushed back to Tuesday, May 26th.

For any qusetions, please contact Mr. Jon Jezyk at jjezyk@archmereacademy.com

Important Links:

2020 Online testing schedule - https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/educators/taking-the-exams/ap-exam-schedule

Updates for AP Students - https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students

Archmere Offers Virtual Course Fair
The annual Course Fair (usually the opening of the course registration process) was originally scheduled for April 2, but instead opens virtually on Tuesday, April 21, in the form a Flipgrid, a series of movies explaining most one-semester courses and several AP course offerings; these movies were created by the teachers themselves. Students have until May 1 to view these movies, contact teachers and counselors, talk to their parents...and make good choices as they register for their 2020-21 classes.

Spanish II Scavenger Hunt
The 101 students in Spanish II classes participated in an interactive scavenger hunt over the two weeks of Spring Break. Working in teams named after endangered animals (in Spanish) like the axolotl and tapir, the teams completed photo, video and text-based challenges. Spanish II started a unit about ecology and the environment just before break, and the activities focused on reinforcing unit vocabulary and expanding out into more technical or topical vocabulary. While some challenges were extremely easy, such as "take a picture of yourself at a local body of water- label the waterway" or "take a video of yourself imitating a turtle", some required learning new skills, like making and sailing a paper boat, creating an "active" volcano or identifying native and invasive plants. Some challenges required research into natural disasters or global warming using Spanish-language sites, and some involved writing songs about endangered species, painting like Bob Ross, finding a famous work of art to re-enact, or writing a thank you letter to Spanish-speaking employees at St. Francis Hospital. Students could also get bonus points for exceptional creativity or dedication to the challenge. Most students enjoyed the opportunity to use their cross-disciplinary knowledge, get out into the woods or parks and use their creativity while cooped up in quarantine. In total, students earned over 257,700 points on 493 submitted challenges. It was very entertaining to think up the challenges and then to see what students came up with as responses!

World Language and Cultures Teachers to Present at International Conference
World Language and Cultures teachers Colleen Deemer and Michelle Midgley have had a proposal accepted to present at the Modern Language Association's International Conference in Toronto, Canada in 2021. This presentation is titled “Ecocriticism and Indigenous Studies Through También la lluvia" and will describe a unit taught entirely in Spanish that explores ecocriticism, history, Spanish, and Social justice in the film “También la lluvia."

Biology Students Respond to Earth Day Documentaries
For Earth Day, Dr. Jenna Christy's Biology students watched a National Geographic special, choosing between Jane: The Hope or Born Wild. Among questions they answered, one was to identify any two things they saw that could be improved in their homes. Examples of their responses and actions included the following:

Use less water and electricity; turn lights off leaving a room
Recycle more
Use the car less
Stop wasting food; Eat leftovers
Plant a vegetable garden; more plants around the yard
Pick up trash outside or from the woods or along roadways
Vegetarian diet
Donate to a sanctuary or local park/reserve/nature center
Plant trees
Reduce use of pesticides in the yard and inside our home
Reuse plastic bags as can liners
Limit paper products and use towels instead; no more paper cups or plates
Use less/no fertilizer on the lawn
Plant more vegetables and plants
Turn off water when brushing teeth; take shorter showers
Avoid and boycott products that endanger wildlife
Get solar panels for our house
Buy products with minimal packaging
Purchase recycled materials
Replace plastic with glass
Start a compost bin; egg shells and coffee grounds around houseplants
Energy saving light bulbs
Use refillable water bottles and buy zero plastic water bottles
Unplug unused appliances, chargers, etc.

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