By Lesley Moreno 

Class choice for next school year already opened a few weeks ago, and this year Skyline students have several new options for classes. 

Next year seniors will have the option to take a Recreational Fitness class, which will get them out into the community and introduce them to a variety of activities, which may include, but are not limited to, bowling, golf, tennis, field hockey, jogging/walking, rollerblading and disk golf. The weather during the trimester will dictate whether or not some activities are possible or not. This class will only be available if enough students take the class. 

For students who may be interested in the travel and service industry, there is now a Hospitality Management class. According to the D91 High School Course Catalog, “This course provides an overview of the current hospitality and tourism industry. Students take a brief look at the history of the industry to understand the degree to which it has changed in the past century. They learn about traveler motivation and consumer needs and how these factors affect current offerings in the lodging, transportation, food and beverage, and entertainment sectors. Students consider the economic and environmental impacts of the industry on the world today. Finally, students learn the basics of selling and marketing in tourism.” 

Open for all students, there are also going to be 3 new Agriculture classes. The first, Introduction to Environmental Science Tech is a class designed to provide students with critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork. “Students will be given a variety of skills development situations in which they will be required to solve problems relating to water, ground and air contamination or abnormalities.” The second course, the Introduction to Livestock industry, includes “principles of evaluation and selection of beef, swine, sheep, horse and dairy animals.” And finally, the Introduction to Ag plant industry, “is designed to examine soil and plant relationships that affect the production of food and fiber.” This new agriculture program will create many opportunities for students to learn the science behind the management of a farm, which can prepare them for many important careers in this essential industry. 

For all younger classmen, there have been some significant changes to the science requirements. “The science standard changes are meant to have students be more investigative and to learn how to actually apply science, doing science rather than just sit and get,” AP Biology teacher Eryn Price said. In future years, all freshmen will take Biology and all sophomores will take Chemistry, and students will need an additional 3 credits of science of their choice for graduation. Physical Science will no longer be required as a high school credit.

 Accommodating students at Skyline during this transition might be a little bit of an adjustment for how the classes are taught and when they are taught and the curriculum that will be chosen moving forward to accommodate all students. Students who have already taken Physical Science and Biology have all kinds of different opportunities to take additional science classes. “We are making this change to be alined with new state standards and also the next generation science standards (NGSS),” Price explained.