Curriculum Includes Foreign Language, Global Art and Entertainment Courses
By Beverly Carroll
Saturday, January 24, 2004
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Several Ooltewah High School students in costumes from around the world hosted mini classes Tuesday night, and others presented demonstrations for a new global studies academy set to start next fall. More than 100 parents and their rising ninth-graders attended the Hamilton County Schools recruitment event to learn about global studies.
'I like the idea of global studies,' parent Carla Quinn said. 'Kids need to know about the world and how it relates to them.' The academy, a small school within a school, is part of Ooltewah High School’s reform plan and has been two years in the planning, officials said. It will serve about 200 ninth-graders next year.
'We didn’t want to rush into anything,' French teacher Joy Miller said. 'We wanted to make sure it was something that was viable and right for us.'
The curriculum includes four years of foreign language, courses on the Americas, global art and entertainment, according to school officials. Students who elect to stay in the academy for four years will select from international business, advertising and public relations or languages as a major at the beginning of their junior year.
Ms. Quinn’s daughter, Sarah Albaghdadi, said she liked the hands-on demonstrations Tues- day. The 13-year-old said she was interested in applying for the academy.
Ooltewah junior Carlyn Saylors said the program 'almost' made her wish she was a freshman so she could enroll.
The school’s reform plan is part of districtwide high school reform funded by an $8 million grant from Carnegie Corp. of New York.
The grant, divided among the district’s 17 high schools, is administered by the Public Education Foundation, which is raising a $6 million matching grant.
Several other high schools have academies under way, including East Ridge, Red Bank and Central schools. Others are in various planning stages, officials said.
The program has partnerships with several area businesses and colleges. Valerie Rutledge, director of the teacher preparation program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, said colleges look for students with global perspectives. Such students are likely to move ahead more rapidly, she said.