Celeste Amron and Lexie Larsen
This school year the Minnie Howard campus, International Academy, and King Street campus will have different versions of a new seminar period.
Some students may remember similar study periods from previous years, known as Titan Time or Freshman Seminar, which were removed during the 2017-2018 school year. This year students will be introduced to Seminar, which will act as a study and learning block.
Principal Peter Balas said, “it was being requested by students to have some time to do and catch up on some work, stuff like that, especially those students who are involved in after school activities.”
This new Seminar period will create a schedule change at Minnie Howard. Instead of having first period every day, first and second period will switch off and on every other day. Instead, ninth graders will then have third period everyday. After third period and before lunch, ninth graders will go to their seminar period where “they will have a combination of study time and embedded lessons about what it means to be a high schooler,” said Coordinator for Program Evaluation and Data Pat Williamson. During the Minnie Howard Seminar period, students will be able to sign up to go to specific teachers for additional support or instruction.
International Academy students’ seminar will be different from the rest of the King Street campus. The advisory time “will be with international teachers each day for an advisory with a curriculum that is full of important topics that is relevant for their student population,” said Balas.
At the King Street campus, students will have Learning Seminar on red days where they will be able to visit each of their teachers on a rotated basis. Balas said, “the idea there is that you get some extra time with your teachers, if you need help, have to make up a test, need to make up homework, or if the teacher needs to reteach something to the class because maybe they did not perform well.” On blue days, students will alternatively have Study Seminar. During this period students will stay with their first period teachers for an extended period of time where they will have free time to work on homework and study.
To allow time for the Seminar period with in the students’ schedules, time has been shaved off of each period.
The new Seminar period strategies are not original to TC and although they may seem difficult to understand now, the administration is determined to get it to work.
Balas said, “we have seen some pretty big high schools do a schedule like that with the rotations, and they get it.”
