De Soto High School offers many options for students to earn dual high school and college credit through College Now and AP courses. However, some students are seeking opportunities to take challenging college courses outside of DHS.  

Junior Lina Al-Tahhan is taking Introductory Chemistry at Johnson County Community College.

“I wanted to experience chemistry outside of the year long class that I took previously, however I did not have enough time in my schedule to take AP chemistry. So I tried to find an alternative way to pursue my interest in chemistry,” Al-Tahhan said.

Al-Tahhan has been adjusting to the workload of a college class.

“The class is a lot than school. The professor is pretty lenient in what we do during class. It’s structured differently as well. There are four hour sessions two days a week and that’s very different than here at DHS where all the classes are an hour and a half,” Al-Tahhan said. “I’ve learned how to manage a larger course load, which will hopefully help prepare me for college in the future.”

Junior Elizabeth Seidl is also pursuing challenging coursework, taking Calculus II at Mill Valley High School. There are four DHS students enrolled in the class.

Seidl travels to MVHS for class during her lunch period. However, she has to leave the class 20 minutes early to ensure she can return to DHS for fourth block on time.

“Leaving early can create some challenges, but the teacher is really helpful and flexible. A lot of times he’ll end the lesson early and try to accommodate our time,” Seidl said.

Seidl has been taking advantage of resources at JCCC as well to help her succeed in Calc II.

“I discovered that I could go to the JCCC math center for free. I think it’s kind of a hidden gem that nobody knows about because they have at least four tutors,” Seidl said. “They’re very helpful, it’s been really awesome.”

Seidl plans to continue studying calculus her senior year.

“I know all the juniors in the class are interested in taking Calc III, so we’re looking at trying to take it at JCCC during the summer or during a semester,” Seidl said.