Taking two science classes in one year, or doubling up, has become a very popular option for many students at Cherry Hill East High School. East offers a wide variety of science classes such as Chemistry, Biology, Human Anatomy and Physics. Many students tend to be packing their schedules full of multiple challenging classes, and a lot of people can’t help but wonder why.  

Jacob Manders (‘19) said, “Science is a subject that I tend to enjoy more, so it made sense for me to take more science classes. I also wanted to branch out and try other sciences, like Biology, since I just took a Chemistry based class last year.”

Many students that double up tend to have more of an interest focused towards science than any other subject. Some hope to pursue a career that is science based. Doubling up allows students to expose themselves to several different sciences throughout their four years at East.

“Taking two different science classes is a bit stressful, but it’s helping me to learn how to balance my classes and become more productive,” said Manders.

Doubling up on sciences also comes with double lab out days. This means that twice out of a six day cycle a student is to lab out during either lunch break, depending on when their science class is. During this lab out period, students go to their scheduled science class for an extra 30 minute period to complete a lab. Some students have their lab out periods on the same day, meaning that they have neither a period for lunch or for homeroom on that day.

Landen Tennenbaum (‘19) takes Chemistry and Biology, as well as Research in Science, which is a full year elective.

Tennenbaum said, “It’s a lot of science in one year, but I’m liking it so far. It can definitely be overwhelming at times and it does require a lot of hard work, but by the time I graduate I think I’m really going to be glad that I took all of these classes during my sophomore year.”

Another common reason that students double up is to impress colleges. By taking more than one science in one year, many students believe it shows their dedication and interest in their studies. The pressure to get into college starts as early as a student’s freshman year, so a lot of scheduling choices are based on building impressive transcripts to send to colleges.

Many students who double up on sciences feel that having that extra academic class does increase their stress level by providing more work and more material for them to master.

“My workload this year has increased greatly since I am now taking an extra science class and a science based elective, especially since both classes are very academically demanding,” said Tennenbaum.

Although doubling up seems to be stressful at times, many students still push themselves to take several sciences and improve their academic ability.