David Goldman & Ilana Craven
Staff Reporters

GBS administrators have made decisions regarding the addition and elimination of certain classes for the 2009-2010 school year.

According to Associate Principal Cameron Muir, interest for new classes comes from both students and teachers. After that, “a group of teachers get together and make a proposal,” Muir explained.

He also said the teachers must get the course approved by the instructional supervisor (IS) of the department. If approved, the proposal is taken to Muir, and then to the council of the IS. If the council is in favor of the class, they present it to Principal Brian Wegley, who can then send it to the Board of Education for final approval.

Numerous classes have been approved by the Board and will be added to next year’s curriculum.

Benedict Hussmann and a newly hired teacher will teach AP Macroeconomics, a one semester social studies course about the global economy.

Terry Jozwik, IS of the Social Studies Department, said Macroeconomics was added because “[there was] an interest in the study of economics at the [global] level given the current status of U.S. and world economic realities.”

He also said, “Microeconomics [will probably] be offered down the road.”

Urban Studies, currently a yearlong course, will be split up into two semesters. The first semester will consist of learning about Chicago and its history. The second semester course, called Urban Studies 2, will concentrate on urban studies and solutions.

In the Science Department, GBS will be offering a Physical Science Language Assisted (LA) class.

Jeff Rylander, IS of the Science Department, said, “The idea came from several people who recognized that we did not have a ‘language assisted’ science course for our beginning English speakers. Now we will have a three-course sequence to offer to our language assisted students: Physical Science-LA, Horticulture-LA, and Biology-LA.”

Other new classes for next year include second year Mandarin and the fourth year of Spanish at the studies level in the Foreign Language Department.

One change to the courses in the Math Department will be Decision Making with Data, which will be taught by Natalie Jakucyn. Originally a one-semester course, the class has been extended to a full year course.

As well as the new classes in the academic departments, the art department will be adding more drawing and painting classes.

Art teacher Stephanie Self said, “The art department is growing tremendously.”

Not only are classes being added, but some classes will also be cut from next year’s curriculum due to low student enrollment.

In the Social Studies Department, the only class being cut for next year is Conflict and Resolution in Modern World, but this does not mean it will never be offered in the future.

Senior Pat Lawrie, current student in Conflict and Resolution in Modern World, said, “I am disappointed that [this class] won’t be offered next year,” Lawrie said. “I learned a lot about things that you don’t learn in a normal history class.”