Due to adjustments in curriculum, seniors have two new choices to fulfill one of their half-year social studies electives. These courses, called Contemporary Issues, are divided into two sub categories — issues in immigration, education, terrorism, and environment, or issues in race, poverty, healthcare, and crime.

This year’s seniors took civics and government as freshmen; this was similar to a class that seniors used to take. It seemed redundant to teach government again to seniors, so the social studies department got together and made a list of contemporary world issues. They chose the top eight and split them into two classes.

“It’s going to continue to evolve,” social studies department head Mr. Tom Beaupre said. “Right now, [Contemporary Issues] is in the beta stage.”

Contemporary Issues in Immigration, Education, Terrorism, and Environment is taught by Ms. Jennifer Wlodek.

“I want the students to have a better understanding of issues that affect them whether it be on a local, national, or global level,” Mrs. Wlodek said.

Her goals for teaching the class are to make sure all viewpoints on the topics are covered. She also hopes that at the conclusion of the semester, her students will be able to hold an intellectual conversation when they get to similar classes in college.

Mr. Brian Dow teaches the other course — Contemporary Issues in Race, Poverty, Healthcare, and Crime. He hopes to bring current events that relate to the topics into the class while adding more depth to discussions.

“[Students] can make connections to real life because these are lessons not out of a textbook,” Mr. Dow said. “They can develop a sense of empathy for others.”

Students say they are benefitting from the class because it helps them become aware of issues they may have been unaware of before.

“I think it is informative and it keeps me up-to-date on current events,” senior Drew Schell said. “Before I took this class, I didn’t know anything about education in the United States and internationally, so it opened up my eyes.”

These classes offer more flexibility for seniors, similar to what they will be seeing in college around the corner.  To fulfill their last social studies credit, students may select any two of a number of semester-long half-credit courses including the Contemporary Issues classes, along with economics, sociology, or psychology.

“A class like Contemporary Issues is important because it exposes students to the world around them, and it is not just memorization of facts,” senior Nick Cavacini said. “All the topics are interesting, and they can open up a lot of debate because there is simply no clear cut answer to any of the issues discussed.”