Breadth and Depth: High School Electives

1/29/2024

by J.J. Anthony, Associate Dean of College Counseling & Academic Advising; Director of Academic Affairs

As an important part of our mission to promote academic excellence and inspire our students to be intellectually curious, we prioritize creating an academic program that goes beyond developing foundational skills by providing opportunities for students to explore a variety of interests outside of our core curriculum. This comprehensive academic program is possible as a result of our talented faculty’s dedication to providing the most dynamic, innovative educational experience possible.

During their sophomore year, students meet with their college counselor and academic advisor to select from over 100 electives available to them for their junior year. Each semester, student interest drives the elective offerings which ensures our curriculum includes courses that spark student curiosity. A 7-period rotational schedule allows time for courses that deliver a core curriculum and cultivate students' personal interests.

Some student favorites include Crime Scene Science, World Religions, and Poetry. By taking these staples or selecting from an evolving list of exciting new faculty-developed classes created each year, our academic program pushes students to develop their skills above and beyond the traditional curriculum. The courses below highlight some of the unique opportunities that our students took advantage of this past semester.

Psychology

This course dives into theories that try to explain human individual and group behavior by analyzing theories of personality, exploring the stages of human development, and studying human behavior in a social setting. The course attempts to explain if behavior is predetermined based on our nature and environment and tests to see if that behavior can be altered. It explores the early origins of this social science and puts an emphasis on how the scientific method through experimentation has attempted to quantify the study of human behavior today.

During the unit on developmental psychology and education, our students visited Red Gables Campus to interact with our Lower School students to witness these theories in action. Lower School Counselor, Olivia Betts, offered the High School students some valuable insight on how critical understanding child development is in her role and how to identify important clues.

Native American History

Students taking this course explore Native American history and issues such as first arrival, construction of great societies, battles of removal, and their effort to preserve their cultures despite modern-day marginalization. Students study primary and secondary sources, as well as the Ensworth property, to grow in their understanding of Native American populations and their history.

This fall, students visited the Pow Wow, which is hosted annually by the Native American Indian Association of Tennessee at Long Hunter State Park. This trip allowed students to witness live Native American dance and learn more about the culture including art, music, traditions, food, and storytelling.

Crime Scene Science

In this elective, students explore crime scene processing, evidence collection, and suspect examination. A large portion of the course uses laboratory-based explorations through techniques such as chromatography, ballistics, blood typing, DNA analysis, and lifting of latent fingerprints to analyze evidence commonly found at a crime scene. Field-based work includes observation and analysis of decomposition rates. Students also analyze factual crime scene case studies and the evidence used to catch and convict known serial killers. A final project requires students to analyze evidence to solve a crime.

Facial reconstruction is used in crime scene forensics and Dr. Crystal Miller’s Crime Scene Science class. Students performed a facial reconstruction activity as part of their Anthropology Unit, where they started with a skull and reconstructed a face using clay.

World War II: A Global Perspective

World War II was unarguably one of the major historical events of the 20th Century. However, many American History courses only study the effect of this conflict on the people and politics of the US. This course offers an opportunity to view the war from a more global perspective, examining how the war affected citizens, soldiers and politicians from other countries drawn into the conflict. Through films, literature , document analysis, and oral histories created by the students of World War II veterans, we expand our vision and understanding of the war beyond our own borders.

Veterans from the Ensworth community visited Frist Campus to meet with our World War II students, share stories, and attend a special assembly to honor Veterans Day.

Dance for Athletes

Our Dance for Athletes course allows students to hone their skills as an athlete while learning to appreciate the art of dance. Through the application of a variety of dance principles and styles, students work to increase agility, strength, balance, flexibility, and cardiorespiratory endurance. While designed with athletes in mind, this course is also beneficial to anyone looking for a creative way to enhance their physical fitness.

Students in the Dance for Athletes and Music Video Dance classes collaborated to create a pumpkin spice themed dance performance for the High School’s annual Spook-E assembly. The performance featured over 80 students from our dance elective classes with special appearances by members of the High School faculty.

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