During the 2023-2024 school year, the mighty Advanced Placement overlord announced the addition of AP African-American Studies and AP Precalculus. Unsurprisingly, Westminster was one of the pilot schools offering the new AP African Studies class. Westminster’s pioneering spirit and nature inspired students to demand the continued offering of these new rigorous AP courses.
Upon College Board’s release of their plans for a new AP Anatomy & Physiology course, students began to seek an Advanced Placement adaptation for one of Westminster’s most iconic and quintessential courses: Introduction to the Old and New Testament Bible taught by the legend himself, Ralph Geeza. In fact, many students went to incredible lengths in order to show their support, some even risking graduation by stomping on the seal.
“Since Westminster’s beloved motto is ‘Love. Challenge. Lead. Change,’ I felt that the student body’s love for Bible class with Geeza made perfect sense and was clearly in line with these beliefs,” said sophomore Alard Evan. “It’s time for us to lead in the implementation of AP Bible and to change the future of the College Board’s perspective.”
Many students shared Evan’s sentiment, fondly reminiscing on their analysis of the infamous horror movie, The Conjuring. In fact, most students remembered how Geeza’s showing of The Conjuring sparked a profound and philosophical discussion regarding topics such as spirituality, divinity, and the Savannah Ghost Tours. As a result, the College Board was rumored to have planned for AP Bible to spend two entire units covering this horror movie, with a fourth of the overall exam score allocated to The Conjuring.
“I must admit I’m a little nervous about writing a DBQ on comparing and contrasting scenes in The Conjuring with excerpts of religious text,” said freshman Oden Kan. “I really hope one of the documents is not a painting of the creepy nun Valak since I just stopped having nightmares about her.”
Like Kan, some students worried about the difficulty level of the AP exam, advocating for the exam to reflect the nature of Geeza’s collaborative quizzes. For those unaware, on certain Bible quizzes, Geeza permits students to discuss their analysis and answers with one another, creating a collaborative environment for interpretations on the Bible excerpts. Because so many students found enrichment and profound value in these shared perspectives, Tacker stated he would consider the invention of a new, collaborative essay question.
“In an ever-evolving world of digital media and electronic communication, I think there is true value in honing students’ ability to collaborate with their peers in-person,” said Tacker. “Students are already well-versed in LEQs (long-essay questions) and DBQs (document-based questions), so I strongly believe that, naturally, the College Board’s next step is to introduce CEQs (collaboration-based questions).”
Tacker’s idea to add CEQs to the prospective AP Bible exam was widely accepted to Westminster students, many of whom saw it as an homage towards Geeza’s efforts. Currently, the students are designing T-shirts and posters embroidered with Geeza’s famous rubber ducks in order to advocate for AP Bible to be implemented in the 2024-2025 year.
