New Courses will be available next year

Counselor Crissy Johns explains to a group of De Soto High School students some of the new classes that will be available for the 2017-18 school year on Jan. 24

Ella Haden

Counselor Crissy Johns explains to a group of De Soto High School students some of the new classes that will be available for the 2017-18 school year on Jan. 24

De Soto High School has seen a lot of changes in the 2017-18 school year, and there are more changes expected with the next. As students enroll for the school year, many new classes are being offered.

This year, six new classes were added. Next year, eight new classes will be available.

These include fine arts classes Music Theory and Applied Instrumental Music, which will both be taught by band teacher Matt Bradford.

“The problem with the way we do it [music classes] now, DHS, because I’m by myself, we don’t have anyone teaching Music Theory. We just jump to AP [Music] Theory and that is a very big jump. So Music Theory would just teach the basics,” Bradford said, “Applied Music is great because it is individualized instruction. You can learn a second instrument. You can practice for auditions. You can use all that and it will also help students who want to be in band, but are scared to just jump in.”

Some changes will also be made to classes. These include ACT Prep being offered to second semester sophomores.

Freshmen Emily Kresin is excited to take the class second semester.

“I want to be able to prepare in advance for the ACT. If I take that class as a sophomore, I can know my strengths and weaknesses and spend the summer and junior year only preparing for the subjects I struggle with,” Kresin said.

Other classes include Repertory Theatre, Music Composition, AP Computer Science A, College & Career Ready, Dance and Video Production.

Course selection sheets are due by Feb. 21 and changes can be made until March 30. Descriptions for all courses offered in USD 232 are available through the district website.

https://www.usd232.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=10187&dataid=11518&FileName=Course%20Guide%2018-19.pdf