Next year, with the approval of some course proposals, Mounds View is introducing several new courses to their course catalog. By doing so, teachers and administration hope to provide next year’s students with more opportunities for those who are interested in learning new topics or to delve even deeper into the subjects that students love at Mounds View. 

ToyBuilders is a new semester-long course in the engineering and technology department next year. It will consist of students using fundamental principles of mechanical engineering to create their very own toys, bringing their ideas and imagination to life. 

            Timothy Berndt, a career and tech education teacher, proposed the course and is looking forward to teaching it next year because of the freedom it provides students. “I am really excited to be able to offer this toy-making class because I think there should be more play in school, and what we do in these types of engineering and technology classes down here is [that] we try to figure out how things are made,” Berndt said. He also aims to broaden students’ perspectives through hands-on activities and creative projects.

This course doesn’t require a prerequisite and is open to all students from grades 9 to 12. “I welcome every single student in this building. There might be some misconceptions [that] these classes are not for [a particular student]… And I don’t want that to be a barrier for wanting to sign up for classes like this,” Berndt said. So, for those of interest, there will be two sections next year. 

For social studies, Holocaust & Genocide Studies will be a new opportunity for students to further explore historical atrocities. Since this course was previously taught at Irondale and recently added to the Minnesota Department of Education standards, there was no need to go through the long process of preparing a course proposal and getting it approved. During the span of the course, students can expect to learn about various case studies of genocides around the world to help answer the question of why these events continue to occur.

 Kristin Heinz, social studies teacher, hopes to look at the Holocaust and genocides around the world at an in-depth level. “I feel like none of the courses here have enough time to do a genocide justice. I’ve taught US History, AP World, regular world history, and I can touch on them, but I can’t get into them as much as they deserve. All those people who suffered through something like that, I think [they] deserve more time, and I think their stories need to be told,” Heinz said. In addition to the historical aspects, Heinz wants to talk about the psychological causes of these atrocities by understanding what makes a person vulnerable to committing these crimes. 

Although the overall topic is grim, Heinz wishes to include uplifting stories as well. “I know it sounds incredibly depressing. But I’m going to try not to focus just on the atrocities but also on the people who have really acted heroically and gone out of their way to be upstanders and to save people because I think there’s a lot of inspiration in those stories too,” Heinz said. Overall, she is very grateful for the opportunity to teach this course and has already started preparing for it by getting materials from the Illinois Holocaust Museum.

These are a select few new courses that are being offered at Mounds View next year. When registering next year, the registration course guide, deans and friends are a great resource to learn about the opportunities offered at Mounds View.