Mini Stories of Mini Classes: Features on a few of East’s classes with small enrollment

Music Theory teacher Alex Toepfer writes key signatures on the whiteboard, occasionally calling out one of his seven students to finish the chord. Senior Sammy Hicks speaks up asking about the key signatures in the new saxophone solo that he’s learning for district jazz band auditions.

Setting down his Expo marker, Toepfer walks over to the piano and plays the part Hicks was asking about, talking him through it.

With only 8-15 students in Music Theory, Toepfer has the ability to answer specific questions like these.

“It actually works better as a smaller class because with the smaller amount of people it’s more streamlined and more person-focused,” Hicks said. “If someone has a question they really need answered, we can take the time and actually spend 10-15 minutes talking about that specific question, so it really helps further understanding.” 

Despite its small numbers, the class has variety with students in orchestra, band, choir and IB — but they all share a passion for music. As a college-level course, the small class takes the time to focus on students’ individual interests and share how they connect the lessons to the music they hear and play. 

“There’s a lot of project-based exercises that are tailored more to the individual student where they can choose how to study music they want to learn and you have a lot more flexibility with that,” Toepfer said.

Whether it’s sharing video clips relating to what they talked about in class or humming along with Toepfer’s chord reviews on the piano, senior Kate Whitefield finds the class to be intimate and engaging.

“In a normal class if you want to speak, you have to raise your hand, in Music Theory it’s more like a conversation,” Whitefield said. “Toepfer really involves us in talking about music and he asks us what we think, and the thing about music theory is it’s just that: music theory.”

With the topic of music theory being so abstract and fluid, there is not always a definitively correct answer — allowing for the class to have high-level, open discussions on the intentions and interpretations of pieces. 

“It is honestly one of the most interesting classes I’ve had,” Toepfer said. “You have students from all different ranges and modalities but they’re all interested in music and they all love music and they tend to be the most enthusiastic and most curious music students that you have.”

On the first day of school, senior Jack Lucas walked into his fifth hour class — AP/IB Physics 2. Only three other students sat spread out around room 406.

I guess everybody hasn’t gotten here yet.

He took a seat expecting to see 20 more students walk in, like all of his other classes, but no one else did before the bell rang.

“Well, this is it,” teacher Miles Martin said to the class. “You only have four people in your class this year.”

Lucas was shocked. 

Was it even possible to have four people in a class at East?

AP/IB Physics 2 is a fast-paced course that dives deep into the areas of physics and is offered to students who take AP or IB Physics 1 their sophomore or junior year. While the class is usually small, varying from eight to 15 students, this year’s class has the lowest number of students in several years, according to Martin.

Despite this, Lucas and the other three students in the class — seniors Avery Guck, Jacob Podrabarac and junior Katie Murphy — all agree that they learn much better in a small class environment.

“I definitely like [smaller classes] better than having a large class,” Guck said. “I feel like it’s easier to focus and ask more questions, get to know my classmates and my teacher on a better level, which makes me be able to learn better because I’m engaged.”

Engaging in their current lesson every day with each other and Martin, the four students have created a bond they normally wouldn’t have outside of the class.

“I didn’t know a couple of people [at the start of class], but because it’s only us, we talk to each other,” Lucas said. “We’ve definitely gotten to know each other a lot more.”

From spontaneous conversations about their weekend at the beginning of class to group chat conversations helping each other finish a lab or worksheet, AP/IB Physics 2 students have created a bond that would be difficult for a class full of 20 students to have.

“I enjoy talking to my teacher and my class,” Guck said. “After a weekend, we always talk about our plans and things like that, and that lets me get to know my teacher better. And it gives me an idea like, ‘Oh, they know me. They care for me. They want me to succeed.’”

It’s hard to tell if the first hour of IB Chemistry is a group of friends bugging teacher Jarod “Jebidaha” Bardwell or a class of eager Chemistry students learning about atomic size. 

The short answer? It’s both.

As the seven juniors of IB Chem start class every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:40 a.m., there are yawns and complaints as the task of learning the daunting subject of chemistry looms.

“I think we complain just as much as he complains about us,” junior Reese Algren said. “He’s like a classic millennial.”

On top of being a small class, the learning environment is more casual than other science classes, according to the students. The IB class isn’t afraid to speak their mind, giving way to some interesting anecdotes.

Like junior Abi Limbird explaining the creation of Taylor Swift songs by creating an extensive and detailed flow chart on the board. Or when everyday without fail at the end of notes Bardwell “loses track of time.”

“When the bell rings, he looks at the clock and gasps, ‘Wow,'” Limbird said. “He looks down at his watch and back at the clock, shocked that class has gone by so quickly.”

The class itself is very difficult, with a rigorous schedule of weekly labs and the concepts they learn require a lot of critical thinking. But with the smaller class size, asking questions and getting help becomes more accessible.

“My favorite part about our class is that we’re all pretty close so we can help each other out with whatever we’re doing.” Algren said.

Along with their many stories, they also have some interesting traditions like Flare Pant Friday, Guess Bardwell’s Monster Energy Flavor, Pre-Test Chant and Bardwell’s Tear Chart.

Bardwell is a tough teacher, according to the students. He expects a lot out of his students and pushes them to learn at a faster pace, but at the end of the day, he is impressed with his students’ along with their ability and desire to learn.

“He’ll never give us compliments directly to our faces,” junior Emma Kuhlman said. “But I’ll hear him tell other classes that we are hard-working or that we did really well in a hard lab.”

Walking straight past the rows of sewing machines in Room 229, senior Sarah McConwell heads to her usual spot at the long table in the smaller back room.

While the 22 students in the first hour FAID Essentials class work in the main area, this small back room is reserved for the FAID Studio class — the most advanced fashion and interior design class offered at East. Studio students have already mastered the basics in the Essentials class and now work on long-term, high-level projects like shirts and living room designs throughout the year. 

A total of six students are enrolled in the class — seniors Baya Aiken, Charlotte Emely, Abby Hill, Khloe Kowalik, Molly Whalen and McConwell. The girls usually work independently on their ensembles and interior design plans without daily instruction from their teacher Brenda Stockman. 

Since the students have full creative freedom, a lot of personality comes out in their work.

“Small classes are a lot of fun to teach,” Stockman said. “You build really strong relationships with the students and you really let their interests guide what it is that you’re going to teach.”

The class is divided into groups focusing on fashion design, interior design and fashion merchandising. Each student works on projects corresponding to their category. McConwell is in the fashion design group. She’s currently designing a shirt from scratch — without the guide of instructions or a pattern. 

“We all just kind of work by ourselves and it’s really nice because we get to choose which projects we want to do,” McConwell said. 

However, according to McConwell, the class isn’t exclusively fabric rolls and blueprints. When they aren’t hunched over poster boards or handling mannequins, the girls find time to “just chill” and talk about their lives, friends and senior year.

“Sometimes it’s a little hectic with Stockman trying to teach [FAID Essentials] while we’re running the sewing machines,” Kowalik said. “But overall it’s a really fun and chill class where we all just work on our own timelines and hang in the halls.”