This year, after many updates to the curriculum, the Academy sports a larger collection of electives than ever before. Electives are classes available to students who wish to further explore a subject or try something new. A large variety of electives at the high school level is one thing that sets the Academy apart from other Albuquerque schools. Every year, to spread the awareness of ever-evolving and expanding fields of study, more options are made available to students. This particular year many new electives are being offered such as Data Science, Economics and Public Policy in America, and Musical Theatre.
Data Science, a semester-long course taught by Austin Murphy, aims to teach students how to use a software program called R to sift through data for patterns. During the semester, students are taught to ask questions they will then either validate or deny using their analysis of data. If you enjoyed AP Statistics or want to get a feel of what that course teaches, you will likely find a home in Data Science. When asked what he enjoys most about the subject, Murphy said, “I’m learning a lot. It’s fun to teach something new.” Since the class is not an AP course there are fewer requirements and Murphy is able to allow the students to learn at their own pace. Because it is a new class, there have been some trials and tribulations, but halfway through the semester, the students are paving their way through this course.
Taught by both Joaquin Sanchez and George Ovitt, Economics and Public Policy in America is a class designed to introduce students to the different aspects of local, state and federal government. It provides students with the tools they need to understand how their government operates. When asked about how he was teaching the course, Sanchez said, “One of the exciting things about the course is that, every year, it will be a little different because the students will be interested in different things.” There is so much to government that it would be impossible to learn it all in a single class, so Sanchez has adapted to give the students a certain amount of say in what they learn while also sticking to core concepts that the class teaches. Sanchez wants students to know that government is not only what is in the news; there are also the practical aspects we interact with in the day-to-day. It is necessary for students that are interested in Economics and Public Policy to understand this.
Musical Theatre is a highly collaborative class, taught by Alexis Scott, Desiree Lang and Helen Bielejec. It is an elective that aims to prepare students for the often grueling auditions they will face when auditioning for musicals by teaching them a mixture of acting, dancing and singing. “I realized a long time ago that we each had our own thing, but we didn’t have a class where all of that came together. Yet, we asked our students to do that every year without any kind of training,” Lang answered when asked about why she had been pushing for the inclusion of this course for so long. The class itself builds from basics of vocal training, acting, and dance to the higher levels, with mock auditions held in between so the students can get the experience of an audition without worrying about whether they’ll get a role or not.At the end of the year, students will be expected to partake in a final performance, the details of which are still being worked out.
According to David Kim, head of the 10-12 division, currently up for discussion are a variety of potential electives in each of our departments. Classes such as Web Design and Psychology are currently being discussed, and in late October these ideas will be presented to the division heads and, if approved, will become new courses in the near future.