DOWNEY - By popular demand, Warren High School has now opened a new Calculus BC class.As juniors of the 2009-2010 school year in AP and regular calculus were wondering what math to take next, Calculus BC was generated from student interest. Today, roughly 20 seniors are enrolled in this class and are taught by Tai Yoo, a geometry, honors trigonometry/pre-Calculus, and calculus BC teacher. "For the first time ever, all the juniors in regular calculus and AP calculus petitioned to open up a BC section," said May Sangalang-Ortiz, a calculus and algebra I teacher at Warren. "It's nice to know they have desire… that's rewarding as a teacher." Calculus BC is a full-year course in the calculus of a single variable covering materials from even Calculus AB. In order to take this class, regular or AP calculus must be completed by junior year. AP Calculus is equivalent to college level Calculus 1 and Calculus BC to Calculus 2. "A lot of juniors last year were worried about what math class to take for senior year because it looks good to have four years of math for the colleges we want to attend," said senior Briana Bedran, an advocate and current student in the class. This program will stay at Warren but if the interest in the class diminishes, then it will be cancelled as happened at Downey High School. Although the class is small, Calculus BC has an intimate atmosphere that allows one-on-one learning rather than a classroom with 30-40 people.

********** Published: September 30, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 24