This year, a new engineering class called Technical Design replaces Geology and Astronomy, both of which were cut from the electives offered at ERHS in a decision made by Mr. Dave Eisenberg and Principal Reginald McNeill. Though he was reluctant to leave the science classes he had been teaching for so long, Mr. Eisenberg ultimately concluded: “It was a change that I wanted to do.”

Although it might be a disappointment to students that had their hearts set on geology or astronomy, the Technical Design class will provide encouragement to non Science and Tech students to become involved in engineering and STEM classes. Prior, only Science and Tech students took Engineering Foundations as a required part of the curriculum, a class that would have opened the door to opinions on engineering.

Since there is “more of a push now for engineering,” said Mr. Eisenberg, students who might not have been too heavily interested in sciences such as biology or chemistry have another route to explore in furthering their education to suit their academic desires. One non-Science and Tech twelfth grader in Mr. Eisenberg’s Technical design class stated that the class now has him “thinking about a path in engineering.”

“There was no one else in the department with a background in geology, so we dropped it,” said science chair Ms. Rebecca Howell, who went on to explain that the majority of the thirty or so students who had enrolled in Geology took other advanced science classes such as Genetics, Advanced Environmental, or Micro/Physio and Forensics instead. For Science and Tech students, this may be more beneficial because if they were interested in geology and took it, there were no classes available to further their learning; however, there are ample biology and chemistry related classes to further supplement their knowledge if they decide to take one of those science electives instead.

Although there are definite benefits to this change in the course options and the new Tech Ed program, what do students have to say about it?

“I think people should take Geology,” twelfth grader and former Geology student Donovan Harvey stated, “It gives Science and Tech Students a chance to get an advanced science credit without overloading their schedules.”

According to Edweek.org, engineering is one of the biggest expansion projects that the College Board is working on right now, looking to have an AP Engineering curriculum finished within the next couple of years. Even though two science electives have been lost, Roosevelt HS still offers an abundance of high level science courses.