When school started did you notice something missing from the school year overview? Required Curriculum, or RC projects, have been eliminated from English and History classes beginning with the 2017-2018 school year.

RC projects were required curriculum projects in History and English classes that could make or break a student’s grade for the year. Students with A’s in a class could still RC the class by failing to turn in the RC project. An RC grade was considered the same as a failing grade, and students with an RC had to retake the class the next year. 

Most of the teachers who had RC projects were indifferent to their removal, such as Mr. Miller and Mr. Christy. In addition, a lot of these teachers have basically kept the same concept, but no longer label it an RC project. Two staff members who are glad that the RC label has been removed are Mrs. Opp and Mr. Kovac.

Mrs. Opp was glad that RC projects were removed “Because nobody fully understood the purpose of them. Teachers could make it what they wanted it to be and there was no clear goal to them.” She also thinks that certain classes should have a weighted project. She believes that history classes should still have a history-related project, and  sociology and psychology classes should have a case study project. 

Mr. Kovac agrees with Mrs. Opp, saying that “One assignment should not carry so much weight.” He explained that he is still having his students write a paper. His students get to pick their own topic from materials discussed in class and complete research concerning the topic. Mr. Kovac feels that there shouldn’t be an RC project because one thing should not indicate a student’s grade for the whole year and cause them pass or fail. 

Mr. Christy, another history teacher, is indifferent to the removal of RC projects. He explains that he will still have his students complete the same assignment, but there will be no pass/fail grade involved. Mr. Christy’s students will pick a book of their choice connected to American history (1865-present), fill out writing logs as they read the book, and write a paper that discusses the elements of the book such as plot, characters, and major conflict. Mr. Christy went on to say that only history should have RC projects because students do not have a keystone test for history, and these projects could be used to give the teachers a better understanding of what their students learned.

Mr. Miller says that despite removing the RC project label, “It really has not changed much.” He states that he is indifferent about the removal of RC projects because a student should be graded on the work that was done throughout the year, not just on one project. He explained that he is now including quarterly projects in all of his honors world history classes,which includes two papers and two speeches. His civics classes will discuss controversial topics in our society today, and then pick a topic and lead the class in a discussion on the topic they picked.