Brian J. Matis

Changes are coming to math and language arts classes at BHS

Forecasting is one of the most exciting times of a high schooler’s career. Picking what classes you want to take is one of the many luxuries available to students in high school, and new classes are always being added and taken away.

Introducing a new class always presents obstacles. “One big challenge is actually having the content that we want to teach. A new course would include a new curriculum and expensive [materials],” said English Department Head Marsha Nakatani.

Finding teachers that would be willing to teach a new class is difficult, and if the teacher transfers, the class becomes a big hole that no teacher wants to move into. Regardless, changes are being made around each of the core departments for the upcoming school year. The entirety of entry level math is going to be mashed together into two classes.

“We won’t have Algebra 1 anymore, and will instead offer Algebra/Geometry/Statistics 1 in 2016-2017,” said Ben Wichser, head of the Math Department. “The following year, 2017-2018, we won’t have Geometry, instead offering Algebra/Geometry/Statistics 2.”

For English, Nonfiction Literature and Composition is going to be made available at the junior level, making it a third option for juniors if American Literature or any AP class doesn’t strike them as interesting. 

“We are planning on bringing in a class called Literacy Skills,” said Nakatani. “It is a skill support class for sophomores, who need help to be successful in Language Arts.” This new class will help struggling students keep on top of their work and feel more comfortable in class.

AP Government was the newest class brought into the Social Studies department and will remain that way for at least another year, as no new classes have been scheduled.

“We are taking a year off from new things and a step back to see how students [respond] to [AP Government],” said Peter Edwards, the Social Studies Department Head.

“Next year there is definitely going to be an engineering class,” said Science Department Head Mark Geren. Taught by Dr. Heather Meiring, the course will focus on all of the aspects of engineering. “This class will eventually lead up to a series of courses, with a Health Careers-type setup,” Geren said.

Despite the classes that are going to be added, students still have some ideas for classes that they personally would like to take. “I would like a class where I could learn how to deal with problems in the real world instead of FST,” said junior Jonah Rothstein. 

“I would love to take a class, like band, but where you can form your own group and perform for people,” said freshman Asia Grover. 

Meeting student requests is not as simple as it sounds, considering that enough students would need to make a request for the class in order for it to be acknowledged by the school board. 

The teachers themselves also have ideas for classes that they would like to add to Beaverton’s selection. “Something [we] have thought about,” said Edwards, “is the Oregon class. It would be a focus on Oregon, but a combination of history, biology, and ecology.” 

“It would be a great opportunity to study the state we live in,” Geren said. 

The Oregon class would be an exciting experience, but enough students would need to be interested in order for it to become a reality.