With course recommendations in and the upcoming school year on students’ minds, many are choosing new courses to incorporate into their schedules for next year. When choosing classes, some students resort to the official Program of Studies booklet that is available on the Hingham High School Counseling website, which provides a detailed list of all courses offered for the 2018-2019 school year.

This year, a few new courses were included in the booklet, and a few returning courses remain lesser known to the majority of the student body. Provided is a brief overview of 10 courses that are either new to the school curriculum for next year or are not well known by many, all of which are courses that are recommended to students with an interest in any of the curriculum offered.

1. Global Foods

Although the popular foods curriculum at Hingham High school is a favorite for students seeking interactive and fun elective courses, the Global Foods class is generally less popular than other foods courses. The Global Foods course explores cuisine from different cultures, allowing students to gain an understanding of how historical events and geography influence cuisine choices in different places.

Due to the fact that this course requires a general background knowledge of cuisine and cooking procedures, the prerequisite is any prior foods course taken at the high school level. This single semester course also fulfils half of the global courses requirement for students involved in the Global Certificate Program.

2. Internship at the Hingham Historical Society

Another amazing opportunity for juniors and seniors at Hingham High School is to participate in an internship at Hingham’s Historical Society, where students can pursue their own projects based on personal interest. Students have the class during G period, and are allowed to leave the school to travel to the Historical Society, where they work until the end of the school day.

The internship is designed for students with an interest in history, journalism, and other fields related to writing and history. An application to the program is required, and only students who complete this application and are accepted to the program will be able to include this course in their schedules. This is only a one semester course, but can be repeated as a year long course for double the credits.

3.  AP Seminar

Offered for the second year at Hingham High School, AP Seminar is open to students in grades 10-12, and is a full year course in which students learn the basics of research. Students spend the first semester of AP Seminar learning the fundamentals of formulating and executing a research-driven presentation, while also understanding how to identify arguments and claims made in other works.

In the second semester of the course, students work on producing group and individual multi-media presentations, which are submitted and scored by the College Board. Students are required take the AP Exam in early May.

Current AP Seminar student sophomore Schuyler Bordeau reflects on her work in this year’s course, and believes that “my public speaking skills and confidence while speaking have improved so much because of this class.” Bordeau is one of the nine students enrolled in this year’s AP Seminar class.

4. AP Research

AP Research will be offered  in the 2018-2019 school year as an extension course for students who have completed AP Seminar. In this course, students will take their research knowledge from AP Seminar and apply it into formulating a single research topic which is completed over the course of the year. Like AP Seminar, AP Research is a full year course, and requires an AP Exam to be taken in early May, which is also administered by the College Board.

Students who have successfully completed AP Seminar and AP Research and have received a score of 3 or higher on both AP examinations will be rewarded with an AP Capstone Diploma at the end of the AP Research course. The AP Research class is only available in 2018-2019 to students who are currently enrolled in AP Seminar.

5. Introduction Computer Programming

Offered for the second year at Hingham High School in the 2018-2019 school year, Introduction to Computer Programming is available to take at the Honors (2) and College (3) levels. This course primarily introduces students to Java programming and provides students with many opportunities related to programming, including designing mobile apps and computer games.

The prerequisite for this course is Algebra I with a minimum grade of a B-. This class is a one semester course, and is offered to students of all grades.

6. Mixed Media

One of the lesser known courses offered in the Arts department is Mixed Media, a course that explores multiple areas of artistic techniques. This course exposes students to a variety of artistic disciplines, allowing for students to find areas of interest that they may wish to pursue in their future art careers at Hingham High School or in college.

This single semester course is an open enrollment course for students in grades 9-12 and requires no prior art classes at Hingham High School.

7. Yearbook Management/Publication

Formerly a club, Yearbook Management/Publication has transitioned into a class period for the upcoming school year, where students will collectively work to produce the yearbook distributed at the end of every school year.

Current Editor of the yearbook senior Clare Daly thinks that “this year’s staff did a great job, and the addition of Yearbook as an elective class will motivate next year’s staff to work harder and produce another amazing yearbook.” She adds, “I’m really proud of our work this year and excited to see what the 2019 book looks like!”

In this class, students will take pictures, design page layouts, edit, and publish the official yearbook. Students will also gain valuable leadership and teamwork skills from this course. The class is designed for 9-12 graders and is one semester long. However, students are encouraged to repeat the class multiple times in order to remain a staff member of the yearbook for an entire year.

8. Seminars in History: World War II

The seminars available in the History department change from year to year, and, next year, one seminar offered will be on World War II. Designed for seniors, this course explores topics and themes during World War II through discussion, debate, and analysis of textbook and document readings.

This course is a one semester long, and is offered at an Honors (2) level, a College level (3), and a Standard level (4).

9.   Seminars in History: 20th Century American History Through Pop Culture

The other seminar in history offered in the 2018-2019 school year is a course that traces pop culture through American history. As in the World War II seminar, this course is offered for seniors at Honors, College, and Standard levels.

The prerequisite for both of these courses is American Studies, which is generally completed by juniors as a full year course.

10.  Sports and Entertainment Marketing

For the second year at Hingham High School, students interested in the specific disciplines of entertainment and sports in marketing will have the chance to gain a better understanding of the disciplines taught in this course. This class provides students with knowledge of marketing strategies, research, communication, and many more aspects of the marketing industry. Students will also go on field trips, listen to guest speakers, and work with local industries to gain a better knowledge of the marketing fields of interest.

This course has a prerequisite of Marketing, which is offered to students in grades 9-12. However, with departmental approval, any student can enroll in this one semester course.

Although the majority of students at Hingham High School have already outlined their schedules for the upcoming school year, students have the option to enroll in or override into any different courses until April 24.