Modernized Courses Mark Moon Area High School '13-'14 Curriculum

Principal Barry Balaski said changes to the Moon Area High School's curriculum will provide more modernized, career-minded courses for students. 

Balaski introduced Moon Area School Board members to 22 new electives, many of them serving as a replacement or new spin on former courses. 

The board will vote on finalizing the curriculum for the 2013-2014 academic year at its Jan. 28 workshop meeting. 

New and revamped courses are available for review on the district's website and include:

• Career and Life Development
• Entrepreneurship
• Exploration of Foods and Nutrition
• Food, Nutrition, and Wellness
• Hands on Art
• Information Technology 1
• Information Technology 2
• International Business
• Introduction to Business & Marketing
• Java Programming 1
• Java Programming 2
• Lifetime Fitness
• Mastery of Cooking
• Office Applications
• Personal Finance
• Personal Fitness
• Pre-Engineering
• Sports and Entertainment Marketing
• Team Sports
• The Art of Baking
• Visual Basic
• Web Design

Balaski said the curriculum changes reflect the need to bring older course offerings up-to-date.

"We wanted to bring some of these courses up to 2013," he said.

A personal fitness class will include yoga, pilates and zumba. Family and consumer science courses will include lessons in grilling, cake decorating and personal nutrition.

"We want to get (the students) out of the 1950s cooking mode," Balaski said. 

The district will phase out its Oracle I computer programming course in favor of the more current Java I and Java II. A new sports and entertainment marketing class will put students to work promoting the district and its activities to the surrounding community, an example of learning through hands-on experience, Balaski said. 

The current marketing I, II and III will be eliminated as a part of the curriculum change. Keyboarding classes will also be nixed for the coming school year. 

"Students come to high school with keyboarding skills," he said. 

A career and development course will foster skills needed for transitioning to life beyond high school: Job hunting, interviewing and specialized reading and writing will be included in the course, which will be geared toward students who are not pursuing a four-year college education.

Other items of interest from the meeting: 

• The board approved change orders related to repairs at the high school baseball field at an decreased cost of $29,053. Work on the field is expected to begin in early spring, but Superintendent Donna Milanovich said the field will likely not be completed for the upcoming season. 

• The board approved change orders related to the middle school renovation project at an increased cost of $33,521.32.