Electives

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS
Course Length: 1 Semester
Credit per Semester 2.0
Introduction to Business is designed to enlighten students on how businesses are structured by looking at the various facets of businesses:  marketing, finance, sales, information technology, and operations.  The high school elective course will also discuss business law and business ethics. Students will be provided a variety of opportunities to learn about businesses through case studies and simulations.

DIGITAL SCULPTURE
Course Length: 1 Semester
Credit per Semester: 2.0
This elective class will focus on making sculptures using computer-aided fabrication and rapid prototyping machines (3D printers). Students will have the opportunity to learn a variety of 3D modeling software and their practical and artistic applications while also learning concepts of 3D design.

FILM ANALYSIS 
Course Length 1 Semester
Credit per Semester: 3.0
Film Analysis is an introductory elective course designed to teach students about the foundations of film study. Topics will include elements of cinema origins and history, film devices, general techniques and genres, and various influential directors. The class explores film as a moving visual form of storytelling and an informative lens into culture. Students will be expected to analyze film with a critical eye and write analyses about the techniques, messages, and meanings found through film elements. 

YEARBOOK
Course Length: 2 semesters
Credit per Semester: 3.0
The yearbook staff produces the school yearbook which entails planning pages, drawing layouts, gathering information, writing copy, and composing pages for the sections of the book with the guidance of the instructor. Ordering, cropping, placing photographs, and selling ads are the duties of editors and staff. Experienced, dependable photographers are needed. Applicants for the editorial staff should be able to write effectively, to do neat work, and to meet deadlines.

POETRY   
Course Length 1 Semester
Credits per Semester: 3.0
Poetry is an elective language arts course that focuses on the foundations of poetic study as a literary art form. The class provides focused skills to help students better read, appreciate, analyze, and write poetry.  Students will be expected to demonstrate growth in their recognition of poetic elements and apply these elements to written and verbal analyses and group discussions. Students will also participate in a series of writer's workshops to complete a portfolio of original work. The course is designed to be accessible to both beginning and intermediate poetry readers and writers. 

SPANISH 1, 2, 3, 4
Course Length: 2 Semesters
Credit per Semester: 3.0
This course develops the language skills of listening, speaking, reading, culture, and writing. Through a variety of enrichment activities and a basic text, the student learns to communicate in the language and to appreciate the culture of the Spanish-speaking world. The course becomes more advanced as the student progresses through the series.

HU ANATOMY/PHYSIOLOGY
Course Length: 2 Semesters
Credit per Semester: 3.0
This course is a systematic study of the structure and functions of the human body. The curriculum covers the major organ systems, bones, muscles, and brain, as well as their functions. In this course, you will learn how lifestyle and genetics can influence health and stay up to date with advances in human medicine. An optional field trip to a cadaver lab takes place in the Spring semester. Any student interested in medicine or the science behind what makes humans function should sign up!

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Course Length: 4 Semesters
Credit per Semester: 2.0

Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary conceptual science elective class that looks at how nature’s systems and our systems interact and, ultimately, shift Earth's processes. We will investigate local and international phenomena to better understand the causes and effects of natural disasters, human impact on earth systems, and exchanges of energy and matter in the natural world.  This class occurs in four sections: earth, fire, air, and water, with each lasting one semester. Sections will repeat every two years. Students are invited to take any or all of the sections, in any order. There are no prerequisites.

GEOGRAPHY
Course Length: 1 Semester
Credit per Semester: 2.0
This course will help the student to understand the influences of geography on the human race. The focus of learning is on the basic skills and concepts of geography. Content is both physical and human geography.

PHILOSOPHY
Course Length: 1 Semester
Credit per Semester: 2.0
This high school elective course aims at being an introduction to philosophical thinking in general rather than to provide a full survey of philosophical disciplines, their methods, doctrines, and leading ideas. Instead of trying to give a comprehensive account of all possible forms philosophy has assumed throughout its long history we will zero in on several characteristic examples illustrating how classical and modern thinkers formulate their questions and how they grapple with their issues in contrast to ordinary, religious, and scientific consciousness. Consequently, we shall focus on questions. For instance: Is knowledge possible? Does it come from reason or experience? What is the ultimate substance of the world? Is it material or ideal? Are human actions free or determined? In addition, the course will provide a preliminary orientation about the notion of philosophical argument, its various forms, and the ways arguments should be analyzed.

MODERN HISTORY
Course Length: 2 Semesters
Credit per Semester: 5.0
Over the year, students will work towards gaining an understanding of the main themes, ideas, conflicts, and events in European history from the 1300s to the Cold War. In addition, students will practice and develop historical thinking skills, document analysis abilities, and research and writing skills. Students will be challenged to determine and evaluate the significance of events, follow chronology, and analyze the cause and effects of major historical events in the context of European history. 

GLOBAL POLITICS
Course Length: 2 Semesters
Credit per Semester: 5.0
This is a UCCS dual enrollment course that introduces students to key concepts, theories, and patterns for understanding politics within states and in the international arena. Topics include the structure of the international system, causes of war and peace, economic globalization, international organizations, democratic processes and democratization, economic and political development, political institutions, civil society, and other issues and processes within and across national borders. Cases from different parts of the world are examined to provide grounding in comparative analysis. By the end of the course, students should have a strong analytic lens through which to interpret the most pressing contemporary issues. Students will receive 3 college credits after the course.