Ketchikan high school students may have more course options this fall. That’s because the school board set to consider signing off on new classes in areas ranging from astronomy to forestry.
Ketchikan High School Principal Jason House says for high schoolers, the course catalog update would “give them an opportunity to maybe pursue some interest areas that hadn’t been available before.”
The University of Alaska Southeast would offer college credit for courses in anatomy and physiology.
And it’s not just science — House says teachers came up with about two dozen ideas for subjects. About half of them attracted enough interest to make the schedule.
“We’ve got a one semester course on indigenous history. That’ll be a new course for us,” he said. “And the English department, they’re offering a Native American literature course.”
House also said a new culinary class and a textile course are also in the works.
The new courses are pending approval by Ketchikan’s Board of Education. At Wednesday’s board meeting, they’ll consider spending $30,241.70 on textbooks and digital content for the science classes alone. Textbooks for an existing oceanography class would also get an update as part of the proposal.
In other business, the school board is set to consider re-upping its contract with software company Edgenuity. The two-year, $68,000 extension would provide content for the Ketchikan Virtual School and the district’s other online services.
Ketchikan School Board meeting gets underway at 6 p.m. Wednesday. It’ll be streamed at the district’s website and broadcast on local cable channels. Those who’d like to offer testimony at the meeting can contact the school board clerk, Kerry Watson at kerry.watson@k21schools.org prior to 3 p.m. Wednesday.
