New electives mean more choice for Waitsburg students

WAITSBURG—Waitsburg High School faculty is introducing new electives for this upcoming school year. Not only are there new options school-wide, juniors and seniors who have scored favorably on the SDAC, an english placement test, will have the opportunity to earn college credits for their efforts.

Unlike the Running Start program, which holds classes only at Walla Walla Community College, Mrs. Liv Leid will teach English Composition I on the high school campus through a College in High School partnership with WWCC.

College in High School is a concurrent enrollment program for academically prepared students to earn both college and high school graduation credit for the same class (often called “dual credit”).  Students gain exposure to the academic challenges of college while in a supportive high school environment, earning transcripted college credit when they successfully pass the course.

“We are excited to be able to offer such a program at WHS and look forward to this partnership with WWCC now and in the future. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to experience the rigor of a college course right here on campus,” said District Superintendent Mark Pickel.

Not only is the tuition free of charge to students, but all books and fees have been paid by a grant Mrs. Leid applied for and won. All the resources students need are online.

WWCC is seeking accreditation for their College in the High School program from the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships. Dr. Richard Middleton-Kaplan, lead College in the High School administrator at WWCC, says “we know for a fact that students who earn dual credits are more likely to complete high school, enroll in college, and complete a college degree. Taking a class such as Mrs. Leid’s increases the likelihood that a student will finish college while decreasing the time and cost of earning that college degree.”  

Other new electives include Mrs. Abel’s 3D Printing and Design which will use TinkerCAD and Fusion 360 to teach modeling and computer aided drafting to students.

“We have three 3D printers,” High School Principal Stephanie Wooderchak said.

Mrs. Abel will also teach introduction to agriculture science, agriculture communications, floral design, welding, wildlife management, and will be reinvestigating small gas engines.

But that’s not all that’s new on campus. New teachers have come on board to round out the faculty’s ranks.

Mike Spiess, who taught for many years at DeSales and was their head football coach, will replace Mrs. Maddie Martin who retired last school year. Spiess will teach a new seventh and eighth grade art class.

New teacher Colby Starring will teach science, with the addition of a new robotics class. Robotics is a simpler, more tangible introduction to computer programming.

Kathy Pradere, another new-to-Waitsburg teacher with 30+ years of experience, will teach coding and small business exploration in the fall, then graphic design and finance in spring.

Matt Elder will teach a new debate class in the fall, followed by journalism in the spring, and looks forward to introducing students to broadcast technologies such as blogs and podcasts.

Gabe Keifel, in addition to his usual biology, physics, and physical science courses, will add criminal justice and sports anatomy. Sports anatomy links knowledge of the muscular system with its practical use. Two days a week, students study muscles and bones, then Monday, Wednesday and Friday they lift weights, putting that new information to practical use.

With all these new options, a lucky senior, in addition to English and Current World Problems class requirements, could take as many as five electives.

Waitsburg teachers returned to ready their syllabi on Aug. 26 with school set to start Sept. 3. They’re excited for this year’s new offerings and are already looking toward the future.

WHS and WWCC will discuss expanding dual-credit course offerings for the 2020-2021 school year.

“We hope to offer English 101 and 102 next year,” Wooderchack said.