Grades 9-12 Prerequisite: None

This year-long elective introduces students to many facets of newspaper and mass media: production, history, and writing. Students learn to use a variety of journalism skills to write in journalistic style, recognize the role of mass communication in modern society, and understand the First Amendment. Students selecting this course should have strong writing skills or should have an interest in developing their writing skills. This course is designed to prepare students to serve on the newspaper staff (Newspaper Journalism I) or the yearbook staff (Photojournalism I).

Grades 10-12 Prerequisite: Journalism and/or Instructor’s Approval

Students learn the basics of newspaper production while serving as staff writers for the school newspaper. Units of study include school press law and ethics, layout and design, basic photography, basic publication technology, journalistic research, interviewing, plant preparation, and advertising. Students are introduced to publication software.

Grades 10-12

Prerequisite: Application/Instructor Approval

Students will work together as a team to design and create the award-winning yearbook. Students will learn the basics of journalistic writing, layout and design, infographics, theme development, photography and the business of publications. Students will become adept at using computer programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop to produce the yearbook. Emphasis is also placed on team building, leadership, and group communications skills essential to the workplace. Students who are interested in photography, graphic arts/design, or the business end of yearbook production (marketing, selling ads, keeping records) are also encouraged to join the class.

Grades 10-12

Creative Writing I Prerequisite: None

Creative Writing II Prerequisite: Creative Writing I

Creative Writing I and II are one-semester English electives that provides a supportive environment in which students write prose, poetry, and drama and read examples of various genres. Creative Writing I focuses on the study of the fundamental elements of creative writing, including developing strategies for writing creatively, practicing aspects of narrative writing, using poetic devices, and developing voice. Creative Writing II advances the skills acquired in Creative Writing I while also encouraging students to expand their writing portfolio, collaborate to critique and improve their work for final review, and seek opportunities for publishing their writing.

Grades 10-12

Public Speaking I Prerequisite: None

Public Speaking II Prerequisite: Public Speaking I

Public Speaking I and II are one-semester English electives where students explore the process of generating, transmitting, receiving, and evaluating ideas and feelings through intrapersonal and interpersonal communication, oral interpretation, group discussion, and public speaking. Both courses cultivate personal growth and development, develops oral communication skills, and promotes the application of oral communication skills to other academic disciplines and to life experiences.

Grades 10-12 Prerequisite: Teacher Recommendation

This course provides students with an in-depth study of writing in the academic disciplines through tutoring at a high school Writing Center. Students prepare to be peer tutors through an intense examination of the rules of composition, critical reading, and analytical thinking about writing. Students are expected to refine and develop their own writing abilities through peer tutoring and reflective essays about their tutoring experiences.

Grades 10-12 Prerequisite: None

This course will offer an introduction to Women's and Gender Studies, exploring the meaning of gender in society. The primary goal of this course is to engage students with key issues, questions, and debates in Women's and Gender Studies. This course will survey the impact of women in American and World History, as well as study literary texts written by women. We will take a detailed look at the Suffrage Movement, all the way up to Intersectional Feminism and the current issues facing young women today in America and around the world.

Grades 10-12 Prerequisite: None

This course involves the study of a variety of films. Students critique both the artistic and technical merits of the films, and they study the development of theme, plot, characterization, and setting in each production. Students will learn the vocabulary associated with film and use this vocabulary when creating movies and analyzing films.

Grades 9-12 Prerequisite: None

This course introduces students to myths and legends from past and present world cultures. It is designed to help students recognize cultural and societal archetypes, acquire tools for comparing and understanding diverse cultures, and appreciate the underlying power of myths in stimulating human imagination, art, and cultural development. Students will read, discuss, and analyze various myths and legends from around the world.

Grades 10-12 Prerequisite: None

In this course, students will offer an in-depth study of critical thinking and reasoning and the use of rhetoric. After studying the basics of claims, evidence, facts, and opinions, the class will examine both formal and informal logic along with deductive and inductive reasoning. Students will consider the role of formal and informal fallacies in their own work as well as public media and communications and will study a number of experiential and error biases. As the class progresses, discussions of justification, quality of evidence, truth, rationality, and responsible belief will become central to the class. While working through these concepts, students will also work to gain a strong foundation in classical rhetoric and the Socratic method. Students will participate in formalized debates on current social, political, and economic policy issues, complete rhetorical analysis activities, and submit argument papers as part of their assessment for the course.