Next year the incoming freshman class will have the opportunity to take a brand new AP class to Spring Lake High School: AP Human Geography.

The class will be taught by Ben Huitema will be a freshman exclusive class.

When asked what the class will cover, Huitema said, “We’re going to learn how humans interact with their environment, settlement patterns, and population trends and shifts. We will also cover urban development, different agricultural systems, and analyzing maps.”

Hutiema said the Social Studies Department discussed discovering the new AP classes, which they wanted to be freshman-oriented. AP classes span all three trimesters at Spring Lake, with AP exams in May. Scoring well on AP exams can help you gain college credit and potentially skip classes, therefore saving money in college.

When asked what he hoped the students would get out of the class, Huitema said, “We wanted to find a more entry-level AP class that was less rigorous. If freshmen have the opportunity to take an easier AP class, it can give them the skills and knowledge to succeed in other AP classes like AP World History and AP U.S. History. We wanted this class to be a kind of transition to higher level courses.”

Previous students who have taken the course say that the course itself is one of the easier AP classes, which makes it great for freshmen, but keep in mind that any AP course can be time consuming, and each AP exam poses unique challenges for a student to overcome.

Despite it being the first AP class Huitema will be teaching, he is very excited to teach the course and looks forward to fun activities and field trips throughout the duration of the class. According to Huitema, there will be one section of the course available so up to 32 incoming freshmen can enroll, but it sounds like he is open to teaching more sections if the interest for the class is there.