2nd PERIOD

Class info

Every argument you have ever heard about whether something is fair — who gets policed and how, whose neighborhood gets funded, whose vote actually counts, who decides what happens on your block — is an argument about government. Most people have that argument without knowing how the machine works. 

This class hands you the manual on how our government works. 

By January you will be able to read a Supreme Court opinion and say exactly what the Court did and why. You will look at a district map and know why it was drawn that way, and who benefits. 

You will sit in a school board meeting or a City Council hearing and follow every move in the room. You will be able to build an argument that holds up against someone who disagrees with you — with evidence, not volume. 

And in May you will sit for the same exam as students at every high school in the country, on the same three hours, with the same tools. This is a demanding course. It is also the most immediately useful one on your schedule.

WHAT THIS COURSE IS

This is a college-level course. It covers the same material as a one-semester introductory college course in U.S. government: five units, 14 required Supreme Court cases, 13 required foundational documents, one applied civics project, and a national exam. There is no prerequisite. What you do need is the ability to read a college-level textbook and write in complete sentences — and the willingness to keep up.