As the end of the school year comes into discussion, so does the topic of scheduling. There will be some changes to the classes of the 2017-2018 school year with the possibility of new classes in the social studies and chemistry departments.

First off, “Organic Chemistry” or “O-Chem” has recently been introduced as a possibility for the 2017-2018 school year and it has caused a bit of confusion among students eager to enroll. Principal William Deal explained the situation as being a bit more complicated than the students may think.

“It all boils down to how many students sign up for our classes, seeing how we can assign those classes to teachers and if we have space for anything,” Deal explained that the class’ possibilities of being realities are ultimately number games.

Deal explained that the class could become a reality as long as a decent number of students enroll; however, there are a few drawbacks. Having all three chemistries (Chemistry 2, AP Chemistry and O-Chem) would be a challenge to not only populate them all, but for the teachers to evenly hold them all. The only two certified chemistry teachers at Freedom are Mr. William Saludis and Ms. Amanda Bovard.

“Question number two becomes: How would we schedule those students in an O-Chem? Because those students who want to take an O-Chem are the same students who are going to want to take an AP Calculus, an AP Biology [and] an AP U.S. History, all of which are classes we only have one section. So then the next question becomes: Can we fit all of the classes the student has asked for into his/her schedule?” Deal said.

Another new class that will be introduced in the upcoming school year by history teacher Nate Langelli is “Conflicts and Conspiracies.” Langelli explained that he came to the conclusion of offering a class focusing on the main topics of genocide, organized crime (mob/mafia), government overthrow and conspiracy theories after taking a class in college that focused majorly on genocides that have occurred.

“When I was asked about offering a new elective, that class came to mind. Teaching history shows a lot about human nature. I enjoy exploring that aspect of history,” Langelli said.

He explained that while most of the topics that will be discussed are negative, there is still a lot to learn “in terms of human interactions and the growth of civilizations.”

“Concerning the conspiracies topic, whether a person believes in them or not, I want students to ask questions and evaluate information. No progress is made if we do not explore. With all of these topics, I am hoping my students will begin to ask questions about the world around them,” Langelli explained.

District officials plan to make all final revisions to classes in the 2017-2018 school year by the end of this school year to allow possible problems to be worked out over the summer.