This year, students can choose to take a new class that discusses current events happening in the world. The idea for it came from Mr. Bashalany, a history teacher at the high school who received a student recommendation. During the meeting, BHS senior, Noel Desmarais, suggested that it would be really beneficial if there was a class option where students could talk about current events, and Mr. Bashalany agreed.
This means that this class will be different from many traditional classes, as it is discussing events that are constantly happening the world, meaning the course is never exactly the same year after year. In the sense of a curriculum, the goal of the class is to teach students how to identify and understand sources and there will be a bulleted list of topics that the teacher can choose from based on what is happening the news. This helps students have an awareness of the world around them that they can carry through the rest of their lives. Through this awareness of the world, students can learn about what is happening and apply it to themselves personally and globally. Nowadays, people are bombarded with information from social media and different news sources, and through this class students can learn how to sift through all of this information and come to their own conclusions.
This only gives an idea of the benefits of the class though, and not what every day in this class might look like. As previously stated, the class is going to be based on what is happening in the world from the international level all the way down to the local level. The class will be student driven in a discussion based format. From a grading standpoint, this becomes two competencies, analysis and communication, and students are evaluated during the discussions that the class is having. This means that students are expected to talk and participate in the class. However, there should be very little homework except for keeping up with the news.
At the beginning of the year, there will be some time spent to breaking down sources, but after that, the goal is just to have conversations about current events happening in the world and the impact they are having on society. The class aims to help students be more aware of the events happening in the world and have conversations about them, and will be a new and exciting addition to the classes offered at BHS.
