By Jonah Wolmark

This year, Tobias Hatten has had the honour of teaching the first AP class to ever be offered at the Village School, and he’s done an amazing job at it so far. The AP Environmental Science class is an extremely difficult, yet extremely fun and interesting 2-semester course on anything anyone could want to know about the environment, and some more! Recently, I was given the opportunity to interview Toby about the class and his thoughts on it.

Jonah: What gave you the idea to teach AP Environmental Science?

Toby: The students. They needed a challenge. They needed to have a taste of college classes.

J: Why Environmental Science instead of any other AP?

T: It allows students to see the impact we can have in a negative and positive way to sustain the future.

J: What was the reaction from the rest of the staff when they heard that you are teaching an AP course?

T: Curiosity. (After asked to elaborate, Toby kindly declined.)

J: How difficult was it for you to prepare to teach the class?

T: Difficult. It took a lot of summer time. I’d say it was about 10 hours a week.

J: What topics have been covered in the class so far?

T: Ecology, water resources and pollution, economics, geologic hazards.

J: What has been your favourite topic to teach in the class?

T: I liked energy. I like to see the environmental impact that all our small actions make and I love to quantify it.

J: Do you think the students are well prepared to take the AP exam?

T: Yeah. I’m not too worried about that.

J: Do you have plans to teach any other AP courses in the future?

T: I think I’d need to discuss it with the faculty, but yeah.