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Westside High School is one of more than 100 schools worldwide to implement AP Capstone™ ─ an innovative program that allows students to engage in the rigorous development of skills critical for success in college inquiry, research, collaboration, and writing. 

The program includes a two-course sequence: AP® Seminar and AP Research. Developed in response to feedback from higher education faculty and college admission officers, AP Capstone complements the in-depth, subject-specific rigor of AP courses and exams. The first of the two AP Capstone courses, AP Seminar, will start in fall 2014.

"While Westside currently offers over 62 AP courses, this innovative program will fuse truly authentic research with a student's passion," Principal Peggi Stewart said. "Not only will AP Capstone will be another vehicle that will prepare a broader, more diverse student population for college and career success, but our teachers will have flexibility in the curriculum to expand access to college-level course work."

The AP Seminar course, typically taken in 10th or 11th grade, will equip students with the power to explore academic and real-world issues through an interdisciplinary lens and consider multiple points of view. Through a variety of materials, from articles and research studies to foundational and philosophical texts, students will be challenged to explore complex questions, understand and evaluate opposing viewpoints, interpret, and synthesize information, and develop, communicate, and defend their own points of view. 

Teachers have the flexibility of choosing themes based on student interests, whether they are local and/or civic issues or international topics. Samples of themes that can be covered in the AP Seminar course include education, innovation, sustainability, and technology. Students are assessed through an individual and team project completed during the year and a year-end written exam.

The subsequent AP Research course, will allow students to design, plan, and conduct a yearlong mentored investigation on a topic of their choosing. Students will build on the skills learned in the AP Seminar course by using research methodology, employing ethical research practices, and accessing, analyzing, and synthesizing information to present and defend an argument.

Students who earn scores of 3 or higher on the AP Seminar and AP Research Exams and scores of 3 or higher on four AP Exams of their choosing will receive the AP Capstone Diploma™. Students who earn qualifying scores on the two AP Capstone exams but do not take or earn qualifying scores on four additional AP Exams will earn the AP Seminar and Research Certificate™.

AP Capstone was developed to prepare more students for the rigors of college and for success in future careers. It will help students distinguish themselves during the college application process by demonstrating their commitment to challenging coursework and by allowing them to showcase their in-depth understanding, interest and passion for specific issues.

"AP Capstone provides more of the learning students will need for success in college and beyond: effective communication, original research, collaboration, and critical thinking," Ken O'Donnell, senior director for Student Engagement and Academic Initiatives and Partnerships in the Office of the Chancellor at California State University said. "We want them to come in ready to analyze issues from multiple perspectives, integrating disparate ideas and comfortable with innovation, so they can make real contributions when they get here."

AP Capstone will expand upon the College Board's efforts to offer rigorous college-level course work to more low-income students. The schools invited to participate in the inaugural year of AP Capstone represent the diversity of our nation's classrooms.

"We are extremely proud to offer AP Capstone to over 100 schools in fall 2014," Trevor Packer, senior vice president for AP and Instruction at the College Board, said. "This program, created as a complement to the in-depth subject-matter study of the AP Program, will provide students with the research, writing, and collaboration skills that are essential to meet the rigors of postsecondary education and beyond."

Who is Big Tobacco? Big Tobacco is the term used by Truth that refers to all tobacco companies.  Truth was created to educate youth about Big Tobacco and prevent young people from starting to smoke as a counter to Big Tobacco's heavy marketing to young people. Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the U.S. Tobacco kills more Americans than auto accidents, homicide, AIDS, drugs and fires combined. 

 
Big Tobacco knows that they are losing 1,200 consumers a day (due to tobacco related deaths), so they also know that they have to recruit 1,200 "replacement smokers" a day. How do they do this? They target teens! In 2005, Big Tobacco spent $12 million on advertising and promotions, and most of it was trying to reach young people. The younger you start, the longer they have you as a customer, and the more money they can make off of you. To learn more about Big Tobacco, visit www.thetruth.com.