This year, Esperanza is welcoming a new and exciting class to the course offerings list. AP Seminar, taught by Ms. Natalie Garcia, is a research and presentation class designed to challenge students’ writing, researching, and critical thinking skills, and is not only new to the school but to the PYLUSD district as well. Currently, Esperanza is the only school offering this advanced class. Aside from AP Seminar, Ms. Garcia also teaches sophomore English honors and ERWC and feels up to the challenge of leading the way in the implementation of this class within the district. According to Ms. Garcia, AP Seminar focuses on, “the foundational skills of argument and arguing, including rhetoric.” The class is one where students “get to dive into college-level research” for presentations and essays about their “chosen topics of research.” Ms. Garcia is looking forward to teaching AP seminar this year because she loves “working with students of many backgrounds and capacities,” and being able to form meaningful connections with them. She loves English, and believes, “research is something that all students are going to need to practice, but especially now to be competitive at the college level.” Students wanting to take this class should be, “highly interested in being proactive learners,” who “don’t like to be micromanaged,” and “like to learn for the sake of learning.” The class also counts for English  Language Arts credit, and can currently be taken in sophomore or junior year as an option for those who wish to take a more advanced English course. Research expertise is highly valuable to students planning to go to college in the future, and the information taught in this course is invaluable. Next year when filling out course requests, if you’re looking for a class to advance argumentation, research, and presentation skills, consider taking AP seminar!