Enrichment courses endorse life skills

Liam Peace ’19, Staff Writer

In the next school year, many new classes and courses will be placed into Riordan High School’s curriculum, broadening the subject range within the school and expanding interests for students.

Some have argued that classes taught do not prepare students for real world experiences, however many of these new classes address this issue and apply skill sets to real occupations outside of standard academics.

Jonathan Aguilar, who is head of the counseling department, noted, “This was the whole vision of having enrichment courses in the rst place. We wanted to teach the students something they wouldn’t normally be able to learn in the classroom.”

Classes such as Intro to Investing, Photography Skills/ Blogging, and Intro to Philosophy address this divide and reshape the landscape of interests for students.

The subjects these classes instruct are applicable to further education in college, preparing students for their next step in academia. Aguilar said, “These classes will spark interest for someone who is unfamiliar with these subjects and it will also help students understand what they are and are not interested in. I think that is what makes the enrichment courses so appealing and important.”

The perspectives from within the student community are very promising as well. Dylan Dekker ’21, who has requested some enrichment courses, said, “I am excited to try new things and these new courses allow me to broaden my skills, especially photography, which I am interested in but have not been able to fully understand how to do it professionally.”

In the coming years, due to the implementation of these classes, many Riordan students will be able to pursue important real world skills and abilities that could give them a large advantage in college, develop their interests, and in the future, give them a head start in an occupational field.