IB: Passing grade earned

This letter is in regard to the "Making The Grade" article from Wednesday's paper and the current debate about cutting the IB and AP programs from the high schools. I went through the IB program at Lake City High School in 2007-2009 and without the program I would have been bored, not driven and not prepared for college. I would consider it an injustice to the students if the school board decided to eliminate advanced and challenging courses from the high schools as students deserve to be challenged in their education so that they may grow and learn to their greatest capacity and if the AP and IB programs are taken out then the students are left robbed of such an opportunity.

It is my hope that the schools would keep at least one of the programs running - IB or AP - and offer a variety of classes where students can be challenged in all curriculum areas. I also would hope that counselors would encourage all students to begin the year trying out these courses for if students are assigned classes based upon "soft" expectations then who are we to expect these students to succeed if we are not believing and trusting in their abilities and desire to learn?

All in all, there are definitely changes that need to be made; however, I don't think the answer lies in program cuts. Rather, I believe the place to start is placing trust in students' abilities to learn and instructors' abilities to teach.

EMILY BRANCH

Tacoma, Wash.