As students grow older, venturing out into this world, it is important for them to know and understand the nation we are in and how politics work throughout the country to prepare them for getting involved. At Morgan, students get that opportunity everyday when they enter room A38.
AP Government and Politics, taught by Mr. Zawadski, who has been teaching for 12 years, is a college level class that offers an AP exam taken in May, which will allow students to obtain college credit.
According to the Morgan Program of Studies, the AP Government and Politics course “provides a comprehensive exploration of significant periods and events that have shaped global history from the Renaissance to contemporary conflicts in the Middle East.”
In our country, a relevant topic that is still currently dividing our country is the 2024 presidential election. In Zawadski’s class, students get the opportunity to voice their thoughts on how the election was brought forward and their unbiased views on the election itself.
Avery Vece, a current senior who took the class last year, appreciated this. “I enjoyed how AP Government & Politics connected to the real world, specifically I took the class during the 2024 election, so I could relate our topics to what was occurring in politics today. It helped me create my own personal political views while understanding how the government operates.”
The rigorous topics covered in this class allows students to understand the conflicts of politics and get a sense of how the government in our country works. Mr. Zawadski believes this class is crucial to the future of students going into the world post-high school, because “if you look at the world now, politics is all around us.”
Despite the high interest topics, Zawadski wants students to know, “It’s not an easy class. It’s a college level class, so there is a substantial amount of reading, there’s writing, but that said, it’s a class in which you’re going to use for the rest of your life,” said Zawadski.
A factor that contributed to the overall enjoyment and success of this class was the teaching methods that Zawadski employs. To keep students engaged in the class, Zawadski says he keeps “a lot of discussion, a lot of tying in current events to what we’re talking about to show that this isn’t just something in a textbook.”
Many students say they enjoy this teaching style and really get involved in discussions that are held in this class, allowing them to get the best understanding of the material they are learning. Jake Oravec, a junior here at Morgan, who is currently taking the class, also enjoys Zawadski’s teaching style. “The vibes of the classroom are great. Everyone is usually receptive to different ideas, and we engage in debates frequently. It’s respectful, and we have good conversations on various topics.” said Oravec.
As this course covers multiple political topics that many have diverse views and backgrounds on, students are entitled to understand the why behind this. “Its important to understand that everyone has different ideas and opinions, you will go throughout life learning and working around other peoples ideologies.” said Oravec.
Overall, AP Government and Politics is a class that will push students to think critically about the world around them, and how to engage in and understand politics and the government when they grow up.
