By Chloe Lister
The majority of my close friends at school are in the Latin program, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. It’s safe to say that Latin is not the most popular language choice. Even though I dropped Latin this year to pursue other interests, the friendships that class fostered and the community it created will remain.
The photography program at the Upper School is similarly small; there are currently only 12 students enrolled in Photo II. However, these 11 of my peers, who I never thought I would speak to, I now greet in the hallways daily.
Although Latin and photography draw fewer students than classes like Spanish and Drawing & Painting, I would like to give credit where credit is due and thank the administration for allowing these classes to continue.
However, a few weeks ago, I was chatting with some peers before my seventh period Psychology class. Someone said that they didn’t know a particular girl we were talking to was taking the class, and she replied that she wasn’t until hours before when she was notified that The Self and The Spirit had been dropped from the curriculum because only four people had signed up.
Whether the teacher didn’t want to teach such a meager number of students or the school suspended the course due to the lack of sign ups, I don’t know. Frankly, I don’t think it matters.
Rather than just abandon the class completely, the school, teachers and students alike should adapt. If students have the drive to take a certain class, even if it is among only a handful of their peers, I think there are definitely possibilities.
As long as there are students interested and a teacher willing, the school shouldn’t suspend courses due to fewer sign-ups than usual. Instead, all parties should make the most of the situation; the students would get a more intimate and fulfilling experience, the teacher would get to become closer to his or her students, and the school could pride itself in a more educated, well-rounded, and closer community.
Our school can only improve from a wider breadth of classes, so next time a class is under consideration to be dropped due to a lack of interest, teachers and administrators alike should take a moment to contemplate their roles as educators as well as their roles in fostering our school community.
