Student survey puts new courses in Sebring Local curriculum

Sebring McKinley social studies teacher Megan Cooper loves to cook. And she will get to use her cooking skills while teaching her students in a new course called “Cultures and Cuisines Cooking.”

She said she “will absolutely be incorporating some recipes that I have made at home before. Some of these include Jamaican beef patties, Indian butter chicken, Korean beef bugogi, and chicken picatta.”

The new course, along with some others, is a result of a survey Sebring Local Superintendent Toni Viscounte sent out to students in grades seven to 11 in the spring. A cooking course was at the top of the students’ choices.

“The students will use language arts and social studies skills, especially reading and research, to explore cultures and the world of food while gaining experience in using written recipes to create different types of food,” Viscounte said.

Cooper said the course will cover “as much of the globe as possible.

“North American dishes from classic Americana to Latin and Caribbean dishes, Cooper said. “European dishes will have a big focus on Italy, a section on African/Middle Eastern dishes, and probably a larger chunk of time on Asian dishes, covering Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean dishes.”

Drone course joins curriculum

A second course that will be added for the students, who begin school Aug. 17, will allow students to become certified to operate drones, thanks to a grant from the Educational Service Center of Eastern Ohio.

“The ESC received a grant for $335,000 for drone education, and they asked if any districts were interested in participating,” Viscounte said. “I replied immediately. Sebring will receive about $30,000 in programming and equipment to operate the program. Subsequent years will cost the district roughly $7,000 when the grant ends.”

The course is career-themed and will offer industry credentials. Students will work toward certification at the end of the course, which Brad Kirkland will teach. Kirkland already teaches the school’s carpentry class that is in its third year and will teach a new broadcasting course in the coming school year. His career-based classes have been through the ESC and Project Lead the Way, he said.  He added that his own fascination with “computers and tech led me right to these things.”

“Just the exposure into all these worlds really seems to help open up career paths for many of our students,” Kirkland said. “The thought that one of our students could graduate and have a good idea about a field in carpentry, engineering, CAD design, robotics, app creation, digital media, and now drone/drone photography…seems like a good asset for our students.”

Kirkland said he is excited about bringing back the morning announcements.

“Students will now be offered a class that will show them how to produce, edit, and create pre-recorded and live announcements,” he said. “They will have access to great software (Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, After Effects, OBS) that most streamers and content creators on YouTube are using. In terms of who will broadcast, run the software, manage graphics, that is still to be determined.”.”

“Brad is a credentialed, dynamic teacher,” high school principal Brian Clark said.  “Students will be able to commercially operate drones, which will give them the opportunity to make money even before they graduate. If this is not a career, it is certainly a good side job. Students in the broadcasting class will do the announcements for five minutes every morning and at the end of the day will prepare for the next day.”

Other courses students suggested are on the way

Music teacher Nick Hughes, who will be starting his second year at Sebring, will also teach courses that students requested in the survey.

“Jazz band and musical theater, both half credit courses, will be added for this year,” Viscounte said.

Sebring will also offer a pre-apprentice information technology course through the ESC. Students selected for this program must be at least 16 years old and have junior status, according to the ESC. The course will result in students having industry recognized credential certifications.

Two Sebring students will be selected for the program and will train with technology coordinator Tom Burkett throughout the school year.

Clark went on to say that the high school offers a variety and number of College Credit Plus programs through the Eastern Gateway Community College. CCP courses are available in English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Spanish, and there is no cost for the students.

“A student who takes advantage of the program can save about $15,000 and probably start as a sophomore in college,” he said.

ELA teacher Nicole Mathias teaches many of the CCP courses.

“I had one student figure out to the penny how much he saved by taking CCP courses at Sebring,” she said.

“We are focusing on real life skills that kids can use immediately,” Clark added. “In our arts program, we have ceramics and painting. We have kids whose poetry has been published. If you don’t think we have enough offerings, you’re not looking hard enough.”

“Why Sebring?” he said. “Why not Sebring? We know our kids. What we do for our kids can’t be put into words.”

The students voiced their opinions. The administration listened.

Students or their parents can call the high school at 330-938-2963 or the superintendent’s office at 330-938-6165 to get more information or to sign up for these courses.  The district is accepting open enrollment applications as well.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Student survey puts new courses in Sebring Local curriculum