New Classes open up New Opportunities

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Courtesy of Todd Ryan

Cover of new course outline

Lucien Cormier, Staff Editor and Photographer

   With students’ interests constantly changing, the classes offered at schools have to adapt.

   The recent additions of Cyber-security and Programming in 2021 had a lot of success. Since the addition, the classes have been very effective and many students have excelled. Therefore, new classes are being added next year, including History of Women in America, Ceramics II, Introduction to Western Religion, and Education for Employment.

 “We like to add new classes if we can every year, because we know the things that students are interested in change often,” Counselor Todd Ryan said. “So when we can add new courses to our program of studies that align with kids interests it makes things more enjoyable for the students but also provides a whole other level of opportunities for students. Not only students here but students who come from the middle school.”

   While Education for Employment allows students to be successful in the workforce as soon as they graduate high school, the other three classes will assist students as they start their college careers. 

   “The more exposure you can have, or at least understanding of what that concept is, helps you make decisions beyond high school,” Ryan said.

   Though Stacy Carr has not been confirmed to be the teacher for History of Women in America yet, she worked to get the class approved. Carr wants the class to start with the contribution of women in US history.

    “I want to be able to cover not only well known women but also lesser known women, to get people who don’t oftentimes get put in the spotlight, to get them highlighted [make them known],” Carr said.

   In Ceramics I, much of the class was hands-on building projects with a few requirements. Ceramics II will build on to the previous class, and will explore new areas. 

   “Ceramics II will just get deeper into wheel throwing and glaze chemistry,” Art Teacher Alexandra Labarr said. 

   Many classes offered here also offer credits toward college. 

   “A lot of times we talk about how you might like to be a lawyer, or a doctor, or a nurse, but if you never take the class that talks to you about what being a lawyer, doctor, or nurse is all about, you really don’t have an understanding of what that’s like,” Ryan said. “So the more we can have exposure to that in high school for students, I think the better it is when they decide what it is they want to do after high school to really have an understanding of what that profession is like.”