One of the most beneficial AP classes to take at Shadow Ridge and just life in general is AP U.S. Government and Politics, taught by Mr. Bennett. Learning about the United State’s government is super helpful for students after their high school career because they learn all about how their government works and how they can lend a voice to help their country run.
Mr. Bennett has taught at Shadow for a total of 12 years, and 3 of those years he spent teaching AP Government. In his class students cover a variety of topics.
“We cover all things U.S. Government including the Constitution, the 3 branches, ideology, elections, civil rights, and liberties,” Bennett says.
Although the class covers a general knowledge of the government, there are specific things that students study as well. Just a few of these lessons are 9 foundational documents, 14 court cases, and a lot of government vocabulary. Mr. Bennett also loves to teach his class because he knows he is helping his students every day.
“My favorite thing about AP Gov. is that the topic is very relevant and closely related to current events that are occurring every day,” Bennett comments.
The Supreme Court is a super fun lesson because students get to pretend to be lawyers and justices and they re-argue some of the big cases that involve civil liberties. Mr. Bennett’s least favorite thing to teach is the Federal Bureaucracy because it’s hard to make it exciting.
Mr. Bennett would say that the most enjoyable activities for his students are the debates and end of unit review parties. However, the most beneficial part is the way this class affects students’ knowledge of their own countries government system.
“AP Gov. is very beneficial because our government affects nearly everything in our lives, therefore it is vitally important to understand how the system works,” Bennett says.
When students get to the real world, they will already have improved many important skills, including public speaking, effective debating, and writing. Gaining an understanding of how the government system works also helps them create positive changes and maybe even become leaders in society.
Mr. Bennett first wanted to teach AP Government and Politics because he loves working with AP students and wants to have a good impact on them for the rest of their lives.
Sophomore Bella Valenzano is super excited to take this class in the future because of all of the different topics.
“I really want to take this class because it would give me a lot of great knowledge,” Valenzano comments. “When I get older I will need to know all of this stuff, and this class is how I’m going to learn it all.
