Next year, Sahuaro is planning to introduce 7 new classes and also switch teachers for 2 others. As for our new courses, choice options will be AP Spanish, Unified PE, Engineering Design, AP African American History, and JROTC.
As for teachers in future classes, Ms. Good has informed us of the possibilities for next year, “I am not one hundred percent sure, but to the best of my knowledge, Creative Writing will not be offered next year. However, it should be back as an elective in 2028.”
For our languages, AP Spanish will now be available to students who have completed multiple years of Spanish or are native speakers. Tentatively, our teacher options are Mr. Lane or Mrs. Dara. If the class doesn’t have enough people signed up and isn’t offered, native speakers not in an AP language class are encouraged to sign up for the AP test for their language, regardless. According to AP Classroom, in AP Spanish, you’ll explore “…issues such as family, identity, health, technology, global challenges, art, and many other topics.” Current Spanish teacher Mrs. Dara says, “…students who want either a challenge in Spanish, or to continue adding to the Spanish they already know, for the students who are native speakers who want to improve their academic Spanish skills, should sign up for AP Spanish.”
For PE, Unified PE will be available to help our ExEd students participate in PE. Mr. Kruszewski comments, “We’re very excited about it from the PE department here in Sahuaro because it’s going to be a class that incorporates General Ed students and Exceptional Ed students together in a class, and they both prepare the Exceptional Ed students and participate together in the Special Olympics. And they will be doing that training in class, and then competing with other schools a few weekends out of the school year.”
In addition to our CTE classes, Engineering Design will be available for upperclassmen as dual credit through the UofA. Future course teacher, Mr. Davis, says, “…I’ve been teaching that class here at Sahuaro for 13 years now, and I’ve helped so many students get a jump start on their engineering degree or even get some great skills for whatever they go do next. And we have a lot of fun in the class, it’s project-based learning. So we do a big solar oven project where we model the physics of a solar oven and build one, and test its temperatures out, and we cook a biscuit or a cookie in that.”
American Studies will be offered to upperclassmen. According to AP Classroom, AP African American Studies, “…examines the diversity of African American experiences through direct encounters with rich and varied sources. Students explore key topics that extend from early African kingdoms to the ongoing challenges and achievements of the contemporary moment.” Mr. Garret shares, “…the main focus is looking at African Americans and seeing how we came about through history, not just from an American history perspective, but also looking all the way into ancient African kingdoms all the way through the civil rights movement through the Black Lives Matter movement or how African Americans are living today.
JROTC has a future at Sahuaro as well, and will be taught by Mr. Lopez, who comments, “…we are actually in the process of getting it approved through the Air Force right now, and that’s going to mean that it won’t be available next year. We’re shooting for the year after that. If it gets approved, then yes, I will be the teacher that does that.” JROTC is a Junior Reserve Officer Training Course, an introductory course into military heritage, history, and tactics designed for people who are interested in joining the military. It’s a pathway for people to join the military with experience and possibly a higher rank. Since it’s Air Force JROTC, Mr. Lopez says, “We will study the history of air power, study a lot of avionics-type things, also military skills and drills, and there will be field trips to different places such as Davis-Monthan and other types of events.”
Some classes will see changes in teachers, including Newspaper, which will be taken over by Ms. Good. Regarding future plans for The Paper Cut, Ms. Good shares, “…next year Paper Cut will be a continuation of the newspaper Ms. Lange started 10 years ago. Just continuing to inspire students to pursue careers in journalism, gain confidence in their writing ability, their ability to interview people, and share their interests with the Sahuaro community. I’m excited to continue allowing students to select their story topics, whether that’s Cougar Tales, Headline News, sports, or like personal interests and arts articles. We will continue to shed light on the topics that are important to Sahuaro students.”
MacKenzie Comfort, one of the newspaper’s editors, is excited for Ms. Good’s takeover, “I’m excited to see what Ms. Good could do for The Paper Cut after Ms. Langes’ departure from Sahuaro. She left it in good hands, and she will do wonders with the new group.” Despite some unexpected changes, everyone is excited for new classes and new experiences next year!
As for our calendar, traditionally, we’ve had Thursday and Friday off the week of Thanksgiving, and we’d also get a Friday off in April for Good Friday. Next year, we will get Wednesday off for the week of Thanksgiving, but that also means we’ll have no break for Good Friday. While this may make it easier for some to travel and cook, it also may make it harder for some to celebrate this religious tradition. One of our counsellors, Mrs. Wayne, adds, “I think we need the Wednesday off before Thanksgiving because a lot of people take off anyway and go out of town or have to cook, so I think it’s just better to have that Wednesday off.”
At the end of the school year, challenges and changes are bound to arise, but it’s up to us how we handle them. Embracing these new courses and teachers is for the best and can bring us all new, exciting experiences and help us experience different styles of learning. Sahuaro hopes everyone enjoys these new selections and that they perform well enough to be a permanent part of our curriculum!
