AP Seminar
English teacher Jason Hunt will teach AP Seminar, a class centered around synthesizing information and using sources to create convincing presentations.
Students will create research projects, developing their skills of finding reliable information, analyzing it, and forming opinions. Students will work on two essays they will submit as part of their AP test in May.
“It’s very different from most other classes where teachers assign readings and topics because in AP Seminar students assign their own topics,” Hunt said. Previous examples of AP Seminar topics include “The Effects of Artificial Sweeteners on Aquatic Ecosystems,” “Astrology and its Effects on Religion,” and “The Scientific Lens of an Age Restriction on Caffeine.”
“If you find yourself on X or Threads, you read the news, tune into the radio, or you care about what’s happening in the world around you, then I think this is a really fun class for you to start working on the skills that will be required in college and most careers,” Hunt said.
Speech and Debate
Economics and Ethnic Studies teacher Jack Neumeier will be teaching a returning Speech and Debate elective class at M-A. The class will be centered around parliamentary-style debate, in which pairs of debaters are given a topic, an “affirmative” or “negative” position, and twenty minutes to prepare before the hour-long round.
Though the class is debate-focused, it will cover a breadth of topics. “Really, the class is a proxy for learning about a lot of different topics in depth, including philosophy, ethics, culture, politics, economy, international relations, and the list goes on,” Neumeier said.
According to Neumeier, the workload for the class will be relatively light. “The only homework for the class is to go to two tournaments a semester, and a lot of these tournaments are online, so it’s not a huge lift.”
Though debate may only initially appeal to outgoing and well-spoken students, Neumeier advises students not to make their decision based on personal character. “If you’re really extroverted, there definitely is a place for you. But if you’re more introverted—some of our best debaters are very introverted people, and they get a lot out of debate.”
In addition, Neumeier believes students should not worry about a lack of experience with debate or public speaking. “They shouldn’t be too freaked out about having to go to tournaments because, in their first two tournaments, they’ll be debating against people who have never really debated before themselves.”
Current members of the speech and debate team will help out with the class. “The people in the debate community can contribute to the class. And if it works out, we’ll have a good amount of people on the team in the class to help guide it,” Neumeier said.
“It’s very much a soft intro into the world, but I think of it as a class where you’re learning how to think, and you’re learning how to structure your thoughts so that someone else can understand how you think—really, it’s a communication class,” Neumeier said.
Sports Medicine
Steph Mock, M-A’s current athletic trainer, will be teaching the new sports medicine class.
Mock will be drawing from personal experience and knowledge as a certified athletic trainer to create the curriculum. “It will pretty much be everything that I do in my office: you will learn basic anatomy of the body as well as body insertions and origins,” Mock said. “You will also learn how to do evaluations and how to do all of the prophylactic things I do in my office.”
“A lot of lectures, discussions, and hands-on learning,” Mock said of her teaching methods. “Any type of learning style you can imagine, it will be in my class.”
Despite being labeled a sports medicine class, the course will cover a wide range of topics. “If you’re interested in some sort of medical field, then I suggest taking the class,” Mock said. “The goal of my class is to make sure students get a proper introduction to sports medicine or any other type of medical field.”
African Drumming
There is a widespread interest in African Drumming at M-A. “I think it’s really cool that we’re bringing African Drumming to M-A,” junior Dane Hansen said. “I’ll definitely consider taking the class.”
Though it is unknown who will be teaching the class, African Drumming is a returning course at M-A and will likely be modeled after the former class. In previous years, students created beat sequences and were also able to use software like Logic Pro and GarageBand to test rhythms. The drumming class also provided the choir with background beats. The curriculum also includes traditional rituals and myths.
