Two teachers, two blocks, one class: Bring it on!

Change is coming quickly. To the seasons, to our world and to our school. In Game of Thrones they say, “winter is coming.” But here at school we call it “next generation learning.”

There are several tiers of change hitting our school in the coming years, but the first taste comes next semester. English elective “Environmental Ethics” meets Civics, and the interdisciplinary learning begins.

History teacher Karen Sherwood and English teacher Christina Serkowski are offering University Prep’s first interdisciplinary block class this spring. “Two teachers are scheduled into consecutive class periods,” Serkowski said. “The students will be scheduled into seventh period Environmental Ethics and eighth period Environmental Civics.”

Senior Vivian Voth is enrolled in the class this spring. “I wanted to take Environmental Ethics as an English class already so it was kind of just an added bonus to take it as a civics class too,” Voth said.

What makes this schedule interesting is that Serkowski and Sherwood can divvy up the double block time however they like. “It allows for more project-based learning and in-depth,  focused work,” Sherwood said.

I know, now you’re freaking out. You’re thinking: “Two and a half bleeding hours of History/English in one go! Not in this lifetime!” That’s where you are wrong. This mashes two classes into one, condensing overall workload. “One concern that some students had was, ‘Oh my gosh I’m getting twice the amount of this particular class,’ but we feel like it helps students manage workload… So a project will be combining civics and English in all of its components,” Sherwood said.

This means that you are doing one project for two subjects. But that is not all. Perhaps you have noticed: our world is not split into subjects. This interdisciplinary class looks at our world through more lenses than one class typically offers. “[At our previous school] we both experienced how powerful it is to give students the ability to approach topics from different lenses,” Sherwood said.

Thankfully, the year-old English elective “Environmental Ethics” lends itself to an interdisciplinary class. “Understanding environmental topics requires literally every discipline. You have to understand some of the science, policy, culture, literature, philosophy, ethics, history to really understand the environment,” Serkowski said.  

Just as the class is a change in itself, these students will be able to take their learning and make a change. Sherwood and Serkowski are very excited about providing this new class and working together.

“Students [already] get the opportunity to collaborate on projects together in class. To be able to work with a peer teacher in the same room at the same time is incredible,” Sherwood said.
The majority of students drive to school, adding their fossil fuels to our planet. This new class will focus on several different aspects of the environment and climate change, such as pollution and the earth’s growing population.

By Yoela Zimberoff