Board hears new course proposals for junior highs and high schools including digital marketing and commercial photography

Stacy (board member and student achievement committee chair) reported that the committee received presentations on proposed new courses and pathway updates for both junior high and high school levels.

Heather Gerard presented course proposals that the committee discussed, according to Stacy. The proposed explorer courses include digital business applications (junior high), digital marketing (junior high), entrepreneurship and interior design (high school), and digital media 1 and 2 at Ben Lomond High. The committee also discussed converting the photography concentrator course into commercial photography to better align with workforce needs.

Stacy said the courses will expand career and technical education (CTE) offerings and that the district already has teachers with credentials to teach two of the proposed courses. “The plus 2 on the new course is we already have the teachers…that have the credentials to teach,” she said.

Athletics and related student programs

Mitch Arquette, the district director of athletics and safety, and Toni Lynn Price of the Ogden Wildcats gave an informational presentation on youth sports programming and potential partnerships to build pipelines for student athletes; the committee will consider further collaboration at a later date.

Next steps

Stacy said the committee will bring fuller presentations back to the full board for review and that members interested in particular programs or topics can request committee hearings. She said the new courses will be discussed in greater depth at future meetings and that staffing credentials and course sequencing are already part of the committee’s review.

Provenance: proposals and committee discussion are recorded in the meeting transcript and included in the board packet for review.