Enrollment for the 2019/2020 school year will be taking place next week, here is a guide for everything you need to know about North High history and social studies courses.
The minimum amount of credits needed to graduate from a USD 259 high school is 23 credits. Of those 23 credits, 3 of them must be from social studies courses. You must have one full credit of a US History 1 and US History 2 course. You must also have one-half credit of World Studies and one half credit of US Government.
AP US History and AP Government are college-level courses offered at North. Students are able to receive college credit through them. AP Government focuses on the importance of various constitutional principles, rights, procedures and political processes that impact us as citizens. "I hope students leave my class as informed members of society who can navigate the media and political landscape," Mr. Redus said. "This class has taught me about the fundamentals of government and it's really gone in depth," senior Ismari Martinez said. "We discuss how to amend bills, strategies that politicians use to win the candidacy and how political science majors thinks."
AP US History examines the nation’s political, diplomatic, social and economic history from 1941 to the present. ”APUSH taught me more about the US and the world than any social media or news outlet,” senior Emily Guerrero said. “I learned different perspectives on issues that I would never wish to face, and how far we’ve come, but still have yet to go.”
Additionally, of the 23 required graduation credits, students must also have 7.5 credits of elective courses. Aside from traditional Culinary, Fine Arts and Business electives to chose from, North High also offers numerous amounts of Social Studies electives. AP Psychology, Sociology, Exploring Social Justice and newly added Global Conflicts are some of the Social Studies electives North has to offer.
Global Conflicts is a newly added elective course taught by Mr. Kerby that explores issues of international concern. Students analyze current and historical forces that contributed to: genocide and war. "I hope students leave my class knowing the roots of these things and what causes them because some things that cause them are still present in our society," Mr. Kerby said. "I learned a lot about The Holocaust but also many other genocides that happened around the world. There were many things that led up to these horrific events that many of us were not aware of," senior Nayeli Nunez said. "I would definitely recommend it to other students, Mr. Kerby does a great job of making this class fun and interesting."
Social Studies teacher Ms. Smith is in charge of teaching AP Psychology, regular Psychology and Sociology. AP Psychology is designed to introduce students to the systematic and scientific study of behavior and mental processes of human beings. "We learn a lot about human behavior and how it relates to society," senior Antonio Hernandez said. "Students should take this course because you can learn about what makes you tick, what makes other tick and it will help prepare you for life," Ms. Smith said.
In the regular Psychology class, students take a field trip to Friend's University's Psych Fair. "These classes offer students a better understanding of why we think the way we do and why we act the way we do," Ms. Smith said.
Sociology introduces the scientific study of human society, culture and social interactions. In addition to interesting class discussions, students have the opportunity to take a field trip to the Sedgwick County Jail and Court House. "People who are interested in making a difference in their community or even individually should take these classes, they're really fun," Ms. Smith said.
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