Creating an uproar of student objections, the history department made a significant change to one of its classes. Starting this year, Honors Sophomore World History lost its weighting, decreasing it to that of an ordinary unweighted class. The change was a result of an effort many years in the process. Honors World History was originally an Advanced Placement (AP) class, but later was changed to an honors class for sophomores.

“History not being a weighted subject makes me slightly regret my decision about signing up for Honors. It is unfair that the years before us were allowed to have that extra weight,” sophomore Noah Libeskind said.

Staff believed that taking the weight away was the right thing to do as the course did not have the workload of a weighted class. Though the course was originally an AP class, the current AP classes are more strenuous than Honors World History, require more studying, and force students to learn more material.

“Students who are affected by the change should not be worried about their class rank as the removal of the weight will not hurt their standing. They are ranked with students given the same unweighted class,” Honors World History teacher Jennifer Gomez said.

Many students believe that the change will decrease their chance of getting into their dream school. Though that belief is partially correct in the GPA portion of a college’s decision, colleges base their decisions more on the level of difficulty of a

class and standardized tests. Because the class is an honors class, students will be seen as more academically-driven than students who took the regular class.

“I do not believe that it is fair to take away the weighting of Honors World History since it’s the only class that sophomores who aren’t taking Spanish will able to take a weighted class unless they do AP,” junior Alicia Lantz said. “In addition, it is not fair for this year’s and future years’ sophomores because my year and older years had the benefit of a higher GPA.”

Despite many students’ frustration with the change, the class will not be weighted. Honors World History will attract students interested in history and will teach more material for those who appreciate a challenge.