The prospect of choosing between three sciences, chemistry, biology, and physics at the Advanced Placement (AP) Or International Baccalaureate (IB)  level may seem like a difficult choice. However, for some students, the choice has not been difficult because of the subject matter itself, but instead because of the availability of the course as in the case of CHS’s physics. But due to a spike in popularity in the course’s AP or IB options, the availability has been extended by having a second physics teacher, Robert Bolton.

      In the past years, Pettibone has always taught IB Physics, AP Physics, Physics C and regular physics, which is a lot of classes for one teacher to take on therefore limiting the amount of classes available for each level of physics. This year, Bolton has been teaching regular physics to alleviate the amount of classes so Pettibone may have  and additional IB Physics class available and to better handle the increasing popularity of the course.

         Not only have these courses skyrocketed in popularity with upperclassmen, sophomores have become another substantial group wanting a spot in physics. In previous years, sophomores were unlikely to take the course. However this year many more sophomores who have already taken regular chemistry over the summer or the previous school year are taking the class. This option has allowed some sophomores to double up on sciences, taking physics alongside either biology or chemistry.

“Being able to take both chemistry and physics has been really beneficial as a few of the concepts from the courses overlap and help better explain things by learning both at the same time,”  sophomore AP Chemistry and AP Physics student Ryan Vuong said.

         This spike in popularity is not surprising considering the overall growing popularity of the IB program in recent years. This year, physics was not the only area of additional teachers IB English also saw an increase in the amount of teachers to compensate for the popularity of the program. In general, more and more students are finding more of an interest in taking harder level classes such as AP or IB Physics, and to accommodate this demand, more teachers must teach more classes.