Students are in the middle of the process of picking courses for next school year. Rising seniors have had the opportunity to schedule a meeting with their counselors. For senior year, four options exist for religion instead of one.
Many students are curious as to why that is the case. MHS Media was able to get answers to those questions and talk to Jan Maratea, Coordinator of Peer Leadership at Marist.
“We want the seniors to have a choice in their learning for their last year as RedHawks. While Peer Leadership and Senior Service are about putting our faith into action by being servant leaders, those classes may not be what all students want to do,” said Maratea.
The four options rising seniors are able to pick from include Senior Service, Peer Leadership, Religion in the 21st Century, and Faith, Science and Reason.
The first two are both classes that focus on serving others but the main difference is whether students leave the school or stay in school to serve others. Senior Service also requires two periods back to back, whereas Peer Leadership is only one.
Students had to apply for these classes and wait to be accepted after the Religion Department reviewed applications. The deadline for this was January 20. Students are already aware if they were let into these programs or not.
For students who opt for Senior Service, they can pick between a grammar school, Smith Village Assisted Living in Beverly, or a medical center.
Peer leadership, on the other hand, is held at Marist and students help teachers in the classroom. Students normally choose a subject they most enjoy to help in. Students also had to be accepted into this program and have recommendations from teachers in their applications.
“Peer Leadership is a great class to take your senior year because it helps you develop great leadership and communication skills which will help you in the future,” said senior Riley Eklund.
These two classes open up opportunities for students and help build skills for the future that typically are not learned in a conventional classroom.
“Our peer leaders also engage in class time learning about how to become a strong leader through the lens of our Christian, Catholic values and they learn life skills that will take them beyond high school. The peer leaders are graded by how well they carry out the mission of our Marist charism by serving others as well as how well they implement the skills that they learn throughout the year,” said Maratea.
The two conventional classes that are offered to students are Religion in the 21st Century and Faith, Science and Reason. These include conventional class work, homework, tests, and final.
“These two classes are more traditional classes that explore our faith in the 21st century as well as examine the other religions of the world, starting with examining the existence of God and the benefits of an organized religion in our life and in our society. Faith, Science and Reason gives our students the opportunity to explore important, ethical questions and particularly explore how faith and science can work together,” said Maratea.
Even though all of these options may seem overwhelming, students are encouraged to carefully look through the course description on the Marist website and consider the following questions.
“Do they want to serve the greater community or do they want to be servant leaders to our Marist community? Are they looking for leadership skills in addition to practicing our Christian values, then Peer Leadership would be a good fit,” said Maratea. “Or, do they prefer to learn about amazing topics found in the traditional classes?”
