The future of the school is ever-changing, as by definition people come and go till they eventually graduate to an age of higher responsibility. Along with people, changes arrive in the form of new teachers, sports, rules, and classes. For the 2025-2026 year the heralds of change, the administration of the school, have allowed the implementation of new classes. These classes have been the pet projects of their respective teachers made with the goal of introducing alternatives to general PE, English, and Math classes.
Physical Education Teacher Courtland Ingram wants to create an alternative to the more traditional physically-focused classes, for students who are looking for something that’s a little bit different.
“Power Walking is good for some kids. Strength and conditioning is good for other kids, but not good for everybody,” said Ingram. “We want to have a spectrum of classes for all kids to be interested in. If you’re interested in something, It’s way easier to be there and be engaged. We wanna try to offer something that’s different.”
Ingram is introducing a class called “outdoor recreation” for people who want something different than playing games or strength building.
“[For anyone] that likes going on hikes with their families, or camping, [just] outdoor things,” he continues. “We’re trying to broaden the spectrum of what’s offered in P.E. Because I think that’s something that maybe we’re missing.”
Another class coming for the 2025-2026 school year is called Film and Literature Review, which is a non-traditional English class to offer more variety around the other English classes, taught by English Teacher Derek Yost.
“The class takes a look at some of the basics of film and cinematography, focuses on review writing and writing as a part of the process for creating films,” said Yost. “Anything from storyboard writing to script writing could be on the table for this.”
Arguably the most important thing about this class is the English credit surrounded by a topic that might be more interesting to some students, allowing them to thrive more.
“If you are the type of student who maybe struggles in the traditional English curriculum, like short stories or novels, or if you have a critical eye for cinematography. Or if you have interest in directing, acting, or any of those kinds of things, it could be exciting for you.”
Adding some variety to the general arithmetic classes, Math teacher Crystal Busch is introducing a class called Math for Liberal Arts. This class offers a college level course different from the higher level math classes offered here.
“A lot of universities are moving towards an alternative class for majors that do not need a lot of math,” said Busch. “If I can provide an alternative for them that’s better for the major that they want, then that’s a good thing.”
With the introduction of a more diverse curriculum in the next few years at Platte County, students will have the opportunity to freely diverge from the traditional school experience. These classes will now allow students to take an alternate road that might be aligned with their future career path. We can only hope that the school will continue to offer courses such as these that allow students to have enriched learning experiences in an unique and interesting way.