Todd Kolson, principal of Mars Area High School, presented the school board with suggestions for five new courses and several course modifications at its Monday agenda meeting.

One proposal is Mandarin Chinese II, which would be a full-year course for those who have completed Mandarin Chinese I, which was added this year. The district would contract with Midwestern Intermediate Unit for the class to be offered through distance learning. The cost to the district would be $500 per student.

Two other courses are being proposed in the high school through Butler County Community College, which gives students an opportunity to earn college credit. Those courses are financial accounting and introduction to micro-computing. They would be offered at no cost to the district.

The other proposed courses are creative writing and an introduction to digital photography.

Digital photography is uncertain because of the cost, Superintendent William Pettigrew said. Estimated cost to the district is $4,850 for digital cameras, Photoshop software and printers. If the class were established, Mr. Kolson said, a lab fee might be attached. He said he hoped fundraising by the high school art club would help defray any future costs of replacing equipment.

Several courses were modified, most of which involved changing the name of the class. A significant change has been recommended for the Advanced Placement U.S. History class. Social studies teachers are proposing that students in that class get a head start with some work over the summer.

The teachers are proposing that the students read the first three chapters, create outlines, respond to essay questions and develop a historical analysis.

Mr. Kolson said the teachers believe this is necessary because of the amount of work that must be covered in the class. During a typical school year, students lose two weeks of instruction becuase of assemblies and Pennsylvania State System of Assessment testing, he said.

Dr. Pettigrew said the social studies teachers would have to agree to be available over the summer if a student has questions before he would ask the board to approve that change.

A hardware and software technologies class, which was not offered this year due to low enrollment, will be deleted from the course handbook. Some of the concepts from this class will be taught in Robotics I and II, Mr. Kolson said.

Four courses that were not offered this year because of the high school renovation are proposed to return next year. They are: food fundamentals, creative cuisine, child development I and child development II.

The board could vote on the proposals as early as its regular meeting Tuesday.

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