These new classes in Fort Mill schools could help open career doors starting next fall
Students in Fort Mill will have some new classes to choose from next school year. Several that could jump start career focuses in animal science, education, healthcare and more.
Five of the new courses are high school level. The other is a middle school class.
One course was taught previously in the district, but hasn’t been in many years. Equine science is a college prep level class.
“It’s definitely going to be popular, I’m sure,” said Victoria Brioc, STEAM and CTE director with the Fort Mill School District.
Students will get to learn about equine care, similar to other animal sciences offerings.
“Definitely something for someone who’s interested in maybe possible veterinary care, it would be a great course for them,” Brioc said. “Just looking at all the possible industries that they could get into, working with horses.”
Health Science 4 is an existing class, with tracks in clinical rotation and pharmacy tech. A new track will focus on long-term facility care as a certified nursing aide.
“By the time they are done, they are actually leaving — should they pass the certification — as a certified nursing assistant,” Brioc said.
The class will be offered at Catawba Ridge and Nation Ford high schools. Pharmacy tech is offered at Fort Mill High School.
“Students would have access to any of the programs, just like now if a Fort Mill High School student wants auto mechanics they get shuttled over to Nation Ford,” said Michael Waiksnis, executive director of secondary education for the district. “So this would be the same setup.”
Teacher Cadet Educational Psychology is a dual credit course taught in partnership with Winthrop University. Waiksnis calls it experiencing education.
“That’s kind of the foundational course that you take in college if you are wanting to become a teacher,” he said. “So it’ll give them a good head start.”
Discrete Math is a senior math class on the college prep track.
“It would be geared toward students for a fourth year math, their senior math, who aren’t quite ready for probability and statistics,” Waiksnis said.
The state approved course is taught elsewhere in South Carolina. It’s a semester long, full-credit course.
“It’s a mixture of algebra, geometry, statistics,” Waiksnis said. “It is kind of like an accounting business course where it looks at being able to interpret graphs, read graphs, number sequences.”
The final high school class is Ceramics 3, a continuation of two lower level ceramics classes. The arts class, too, is a college prep track course.
The lone middle school addition is an elective. Introduction to Career Clusters would give students a look at the specialized study areas they can choose as high school students. Career clusters in high school are similar to the major and minor study programs often associated with college learning.
“They’re going to get to experience a little bit of career opportunities and possibilities for themselves,” Waiksnis said.
As an elective, the middle school course may not fit into all students’ schedules. It may begin as a pilot program this school year. Ideas for new courses came from teacher and administrator suggestions, Waiksnin said. Potential classes are then researched and refined by district staff. The school board on Tuesday night voted to make them official.
The new classes will be in place for the school year that begins in 2022.
