Thank you.
And I'll just officially call today's
Curriculum Council meeting to order, and we'll start with Roll Call.
I think what we'll do is I will just
call your name and if you don't mind, just restate your name and your role
when I do that.
And that's how I will do roll and then we'll move into the agenda.
So let's start with Dr.
Cronin here.
School board member.
How about Mrs.
Sicker here? School Board.
Okay.
Then.
Mr. Knowles.
Greg Knowles, Hershey Middle School, Spanish teacher.
Thank you, Mrs.
Global.
Hi there.
Elementary Assistant Principal
Mrs. Hicks.
All right, I'm here.
Mrs. Lerer.
Hello.
Good. Good afternoon.
My name is in the logo, and I have a student
in eighth grade at Derry Township at Hershey Middle School.
Thank you.
Anna Goma.
Here.
Student council, I mean, yes and no.
No, no.
Representative, thank you.
Thank you, Hannah.
Dr. Smith.
Hello.
Jeff Smith, High School Principal.
Mrs. Funke.
Hi. Jenna Funke Elementary, Principal.
Mrs. and Jerry.
Just contrary to high school
health and visit teacher
Mrs. Alexander.
Hi. Laura Alexander, third grade teacher,
Mrs. Cope.
Hi. Lindsay Cox, Citizen Advisor
Lisa Wang.
Lisa here.
Student Representative.
Thank you. Lisa.
Mrs. Taylor Stuckey.
Sheri Taylor.
Stuckey English Department Chair.
Dr. Winslow.
Casey Winslow Superintendent.
And Mrs.
Mullins.
Sam Mullins Citizen Advisor.
Thank you.
And then, Annie, Did I miss anyone?
H I just like to apologize.
I'm sorry.
Christine Hicks, fifth grade teacher.
I realize I was muted.
My volume was off on my computer,
so when I reentered and unmuted I had an everyday math.
The game going on in the background.
So I apologize about that.
No worries.
That's okay. Thank you though.
And I think I'm going to share my screen
and bring up the agenda.
Although Mr.
Ala, I think I don't have the ability to share my screen.
Would you mind giving me that ability?
Absolutely.
This whole Zoom thing
has been a while since I've done one totally in Zoom.
All right.
Now you should be able to.
That's my that from here.
That's all right.
We're good.
So let's see here.
Can everybody see the agenda now?
Hopefully so.
The first item on the agenda is just the summary
notes are posted there for review.
We have a relatively small agenda today
after the summary notes.
We don't have anything under information
or items for discussion or even new business, but we do have
four items under old business.
And just a reminder,
I think we do have some new members potentially with us today
how this works.
These items were presented under new business at our meeting last month
and in which case
they're for high school proposal course, new courses or course revisions
for the upcoming school year and each one gets presented.
Then there's a discussion and then board members can make a motion
to move the item on in the process.
And that's what happened last time with these four course proposal slash
revisions.
They were moved through the first read of the curriculum council process
and then they move into the old business element on the agenda today
where we will revisit each one of those four items and have any further
discussion or answer any further questions about each one of them.
And then we will ask one of our board members to make a motion
if we get to that point, to move it on in the process, in which case
if the item is approved, it will go to the full board
for approval and then to be implemented next school
year as part of the high school course offerings.
So that's how this process works, where
about two thirds of the way through a three step process.
So for today's meeting, we're just going to go through these
four courses.
I'll summarize them briefly.
Just as a reminder, they've been posted since our last meeting.
Then we'll have any further discussion and see if we're ready
to move them forward in the in the process. So
the first proposed course
is modern innovation.
It was a proposal put through by Samantha
Gray at our last meeting,
and basically this is like
a project based shark tape, Shark Tank
type format course that is geared towards
Hershey gifted students at the high school,
but open to all students at the high school as an elective.
And that course
went through the first step of the approval process last time.
And does anyone have any further questions about modern innovation
or anything they'd like to bring up in terms of discussion around that?
Aaron, this is Donna Cronin.
Could you clarify, was that a half credit for a year?
Correct.
I'm looking to.
See specifically that would be a half credit semester.
One semester course thing, half.
Credit semester course.
Banks.
Dr. Smith.
Thank you.
If if there is no questions or discussion around this proposal,
could I get a motion to move this modern innovation
course forward in the process to go for full board review?
So I'll move to Kathy Zika.
Second, Donna Cronan.
All in favor,
eye opening.
This is Mike Rizzo as well. I did joint.
Thanks, Mike. Thank you.
Thanks.
Mike opposed.
Okay.
Thank you.
So the Modern innovation course
will move forward for full board approval at an upcoming board meeting.
So thank you, everybody. I wasn't sure how this
in favor or opposed thing would go with all of us being in Zoom.
So I was thinking that maybe
we should type our votes into the chat, but I think that just went just fine.
So we'll roll on with the same type of procedure.
So our second course that we're looking to move on in
the process is college prep, English 11
EPICS, myths and legends in literature.
And this is a new course proposal put forth by the English Department.
The English department lost a couple
of courses due to NCAA regulations a couple of years ago,
and this course is a replacement for one of those to give 11th graders
another option in terms of how they can get their English credits.
And it is taught through the use of epics, myths and legends in literature.
So does anybody have any
questions related to college prep English 11
Yeah.
Aaron, just to make sure I have my notes right
when I present this at the board meeting.
Donna And that is a four year one credit course.
Yes, I believe it is just one.
Okay, that was a question, not a statement.
Sorry yet. Yes, Donna, you are.
That is correct.
It is a full year, full credit course.
Perfect.
Okay. Hi.
This is girl in law.
I have a quick question.
Sure.
Do we know how many credits
that might transfer to on average
at the college level.
For this.
Course? Yes.
I don't I.
Don't believe this one transfers for college credit
because it's not an advanced placement course.
This would just be a full credit high school course.
Okay.
There's another one on the agenda we'll talk about here in a little bit.
That does have an option for college credit, but this one does not.
So often.
Just to clarify, I think the NCAA is if a student wants to play
a collegiate sport, they have to make sure they get so many specific credit.
And I think I believe some of our English classes
previously didn't count toward NCAA English credit.
So that so if you know,
if you're going to play a sport in college,
you start looking at your transcript, making sure all your classes fit
the NCAA requirements.
Yeah, that is correct.
That's I think we had a couple of courses that didn't
meet those requirements, which is why these changes were made.
So thank you, Cathy.
If there's no further questions,
could I get a motion to move college prep English, 11 epics, myths
and legends and literature on to the next level of the process, which would be
for full board approval.
So moved Cathy Zika.
Second, Donna Cronan.
Thank you all those in favor. I.
Any opposed.
Reported OC.
Hearing none that of course will move on in the process and
and go for full board approval at an upcoming meeting.
The next one is a little bit more complicated.
This is a proposal for a revision of a current course
and basically taking the student world action class
and taking what is currently being offered and making it two different courses,
one for ninth and 10th grade students, one for 11th and 12th grade students.
The ninth and 10th grade class would be in person for a semester and then the
11th and 12th grade
class would be asynchronous.
The way that the course currently is being offered
now, I'm just trying to provide
some of our ninth and 10th graders with some added skills.
They were having a little bit of a challenge navigating this
course in the asynchronous virtual format,
and this change would split it into two.
This class into two different courses are designed to
meet specific needs of kids at different levels in the high school.
And Dr.
Smith, if I'm getting any of that wrong, feel free to jump in there.
I know.
Dr. Schumann That was perfect.
That was very accurate.
And any questions or discussion around this course
or actually it's proposal to take one class and make it to.
The. End is the is the second one
because it's
not changing doesn't have a sheet like this.
So is this all inclusive of everything?
The 11th and 12th grade is staying the same.
So there's no no special form for that one, Is that correct?
No, I believe done.
And the only thing that's changing there is the name of the course
that the ninth and 10th grade course is going to be
titled
through community service.
And the other one is going to be the 11th and 12th grade courses
leading through community service.
So a little bit different type of focus depending upon what level students are in.
Right. And as the
does this junior senior classes that also have credit
that gets credit for year or one credit for year, I can't remember.
Dr. Smith, can you answer that?
I wrote down last time half credits whole year to separate half credit.
It's half credit full year for the 11th and 12th grade course.
Thank you.
It's half credit.
Half year for the ninth and 10th grade course.
Perfect.
Thank you.
Dr. Smith
And Dr.
Shuman, just a quick question.
How do you handle the transfer, the transition year where you have a
a full year credit class and a half year to get the younger
kids acclimated?
Dr. Smith, do you want to take that one as well?
No, This will just be a different offering next year.
So for this year, we've seen some struggle with our ninth and 10th graders
as an asynchronous offering,
which is why the decision was made to split it for next year.
So the ninth and 10th graders are getting some extra support in the class
as it's currently running this year, with the split coming next year.
Based on the need that we set up.
Thank you.
And this is my first
thank you. My
and the other questions are discussions
around these two courses.
If that's the case,
can I get a motion to move this revision and this new course along in the process
to go before the board for a full approval?
Please move to Kathy Sicker.
Second, Mike Rizzo.
All in favor. Of.
Any opposed
that's good
that we'll move on to the next step in the process.
And that brings us to one more course
that's that's up for review again today
and that is our HAC intro to business course presented by Mr.
Scott Stein at the high school.
This is a unique course because it is actually being taught by Mr.
Stein using the curriculum
being taught at our high school and students can
can receive
credit or credits from Harrisburg area
community college upon completion if they decide to pursue that option.
So it's an option for kids in this course to actually take the course
at Hershey High School to receive college credit from Hacc.
I believe the cost to receive the credits is $230,
which is very minimal, considered to what credits normally cost
through dual enrollment are actually college enrollment. So
and this is it's nice that
because Scott has an MBA
that he is able to teach the course
using PAX curriculum and our students are able to benefit
by getting college credits while attending the high school.
Does anybody have any questions
about introduction to business?
No discussion around that.
I think it's a really neat opportunity that our kids will be able to have.
So hearing none.
Can I get a motion to move Hack Introduction to Business course
on to the next step in the process where it will go before the full board
for consideration at an upcoming meeting.
So moved Cathy Stricker.
Second, Mike Rizzo.
All in favor.
I i i.
Any opposed
hearing none that will complete that and
hack intro to business will move to
the next step in the process to go to the full board for review.
So that's really all of the business
we had on the agenda for today's meeting
which brings us to the public comment portion of the meeting.
Do we have anybody for public comment?
Mr.. I
no hands are raised at this time.
Thank you.
Dr. Schulman.
Can I just back up for a second? Sure.
I just want to say
thank you to the board members and then the curriculum committee for
entertaining these four courses.
It's really going to enhance our offerings
and what we're going to be able to deliver
in terms of a program at the high school.
So I just wanted to say on behalf of the teachers
and the department chairs, I just wanted to say thank you.
Well, this is done across and it goes both ways because these are great options.
And I know it's not it's like one sheet of paper, but we know
a lot of thought and research went into the teacher's work in proposing these.
So thanks to all of you for offering them.
All right, everybody.
Thank you. Dr. Smith.
Thank you, Dr. Cronin.
So is there anything else for the good of the order before we sign off today?
Our next meeting will be February 14th, 2022 at 4 p.m..
Yes, Hopefully we will be able to get back in a room together.
Mrs. Lara.
Yes, thank you.
I just have a quick question.
I don't know if it's information that I've missed,
but I've wondered for quite some time now
does the high school participate
in the much the statewide mock trial program
that's offered by the Pennsylvania
Bar Association?
What was that program?
And this is a mock trial.
It's the slide program and it's offered
by the Pennsylvanian Bar Association.
I don't believe I've seen any team from Hershey High School.
And I was just wondering if that's something that has been offered
in the past or might be offered or
if Dr.
Smith might be interested in entertaining your conversation about that.
I know students have participated in things I know of.
Students have done it, but I don't know if it's been officially
through the score on their own.
But I'll leave that to Dr.
Smith to follow up on.
Yes, there has been
there are sometimes groups of kids that get together to participate in mock trial,
but I'd be more than happy to have more of a discussion if we wanted to
try to integrate it deeper into what
we're offering our students.
We did a mock trial at my other two high schools.
It was actually a club,
so I'd be I'd be happy to have a conversation about it for sure,
because I think we have some kids that could really be interested in it.
That would be great.
May I call you at 10:00 tomorrow morning?
When is a good time?
We say 10:00 tomorrow morning will not work.
How about we exchange some emails?
How about you send me an email and then we'll pick a time some one day
this week that that works and we can have a conversation about mock trial.
That would be great.
Thank you so. Much. Excellent. Thank you.
Any other items before we sign off?
All right.
Well, thank you, everybody.
Can I get a motion to adjourn.
Come up at this
second?
Donna Cronan.
Marvelous. Well, that's it.
Have a good evening and a little later.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.