Coming back to school is always a drag, but Pentucket High School students came back to an improved school this fall. Along with the new renovations to the cafeteria, three new elective courses were added to the curriculum over the summer; they are sports medicine, public safety, and graphic design.

Adding these courses was anything but a simple process. According to Mr. Evans it took close to two years to finally get these classes up and running. “It all started in the advisory groups, we started asking students what they thought was working at the school and what wasn’t” said Mr. Evans. An overwhelming majority of the students wanted more electives to be offered at the school.

“The advisory groups were very straightforward with what they wanted” said Mr. Evans who said he was very surprised with the process and how quickly they were able to add the new classes into the curriculum.

Mr. Evans, who teaches the new course public safety, said the new classes “open up more doors for each individual student.” These courses can be really important for the futures some students had in mind. Both the sports medicine and public safety classes require the students to get CPR certified, which has so far been very effective.

According to sophomore Maddie Binding, who is currently in the sports medicine course “it is a good transition from academic stuff to visually learning about something intriguing.” Maddie, who recently completed the CRP test, commented that she really enjoyed learning CRP, the hands on way, and not just sitting and watching someone.

When I asked if she was enjoying the class so far, sophomore Jaclyn Belanger said, “I really like the way the class is set up and how we learn”. Jaclyn who is in the public safety course also recently completed the CPR test. She thought this class was more useful to her as an individual and added in “it actually has something more to do with jobs rather than like drawing or something for me.”

Also sophomore Jen Lovett agreed with both Jaclyn and Maddie on how she liked the way the class is set up. She also said “it’s different from any other electives I have taken because it’s related to sports, which is something I’m really interested in.”

The graphic design course has also been a success so far. Sophomore Emmy Desjardins, who is currently in the graphic design course, said “it’s definitely something different, it’s an art class but it’s a unique art class.” She described the class as one that does a lot of designing posters and advertisements that catch people’s attention and studying different logos. “I would definitely recommend it to everyone” she said.

Already less than a month into the school year, the new classes have already been quite a success for both the students taking them and the teachers. Mr. Evans hopes that more and more classes like these will be added; and that the students will continue to keeping talking about what kind of classes they want to see in the future, through the advisory groups.

Mr. Evans said, “My goal is to continue to tweak the classes and make them better but also to take these classes and have them branch out off into new courses.”

Hopefully that goal is reached for the students. Binding said, “If there was a sports medicine two I would definitely take it.”

Finally Mr. Evans added “I think it’s been an eye-opening experience for the kids.”

The new classes that were added to the curriculum at Pentucket High School clearly have been an experience. From getting the idea of adding new electives, to finally putting it all together and seeing results on the first day of school. Because sometimes change isn’t always such a bad thing.