The school plans to offer a non-AP Statistics class to students next year. Depending on the number of students who show interest in the course, the course will either be taught in two separate classes by math teachers Carol Evans and Shelley Carranza, or as one class led by either of the two teachers.

Algebra II and Trigonometry/Math Analysis teachers have recently begun promoting the class, as it targets three groups of students: those who have completed Algebra II and do not wish to take Trigonometry/Math Analysis directly afterwards, those who have taken Trigonometry/Math Analysis and do not wish to take Calculus afterwards, and those who have taken Calculus and do not wish to take AP Calculus or AP Statistics.

“We wanted to have another math class option for students who are not primarily going into the math/science field,” math teacher and class coordinator Betty Yamasaki said. “Most college majors (non math and science) have students take at least one statistics class and we felt that this would be a beneficial class to those students.”

The goal of the class is to develop students’ understanding of how numbers are applicable in real life, such as in news and politics. The class will allow students to choose data of their interest, and will teach them how to gather and use such data to support their position on real life issues.

Grades for the class will be based on class work, projects and exams, and all exams will be open-notes and open-book.

“Statistics is in our everyday lives, from graphs in the papers to looking at trends in sports, finance, crime,” Yamasaki said. “Being able to know if data is valid and true is a skill needed to make wise decisions in life.”