As Neha Sharma ’26 enters her AP African American Studies class, she reflects on her understanding of the curriculum. In this class, Sharma has been able to learn about African American history while taking AP U.S. History simultaneously, giving her a deeper understanding of American history as a whole. Sharma is also the first junior to take these classes at the same time at Stevenson.
Stevenson offers various “unique” classes, ranging across fields of study like AP African American Studies to Electrical Engineering, that allow students to pursue their interests without constraint and without feeling forced to take only mainstream and core classes. The mix of niche classes and graduation requirements gives students the opportunity to gain an interdisciplinary education across a multitude of fields in which they may be interested.
During their senior year, students have the chance to take a new array of Communication Arts classes, including Folklore and Mythology, a single semester course with three classes in both semesters of the current school year. One segment is taught by teacher Geriann Pioquinto, who describes her experience catering to the unique interests of students who are enrolled in the course
“We want to ensure the stories we read in class are interesting enough to keep all students engaged,” Pioquinto said. “Some students are just taking it to take it, while others are zealous about Greek mythology or their own cultural stories that they want to study and put academic value to.”
Students in Folklore and Mythology can study topics that they may not be able to learn about in other English classes that follow general curriculums. Sharma has an interest in a career in the humanities, which has led her to take courses like AP African American Studies and AP Art History.
“My rule is that I allow myself to [take one niche] class every year, so, every year, I’ve taken a [niche class] as my fun class,” Sharma said. “Compared to [graduation requirements], these classes have broadened my view of [the world and society while establishing my interest in the humanities].”
Sharma conveys that taking less popular courses has taught her the meaning of different types of art and how to grow a deeper understanding of different groups of people. Pioquinto echoes Sharma’s perspective, explaining that the niche classes intend to teach students to think critically and increase their overall understanding of the world around them.
“We’ve been trying to encourage students to try to study their own communities and do field notes on the Homecoming dance or go to the play and take notes of people around them [so they can analyze society, norms, and more],” Pioquinto said.
Pioquinto intends to teach students general skills that will be applicable, regardless of their future careers, to increase the overall value of their course in students’ lives. However, according to Sharma, learning interdisciplinary skills in niche classes can be strenuous for students due to the lack of available resources.
“In [niche] classes, the access to resources [is] limited; there was only one period [for art history] with only a few students, so there [isn’t] a tutor for [the class], and there’s just not as many resources [for less popular] classes,” Sharma said.
The struggle described by Sharma is not limited to students; Pioqunito conveys that teachers face similar challenges in determining the content of the courses. Elizabeth Scheinkopf, AP African American Studies teacher, explains that students will not face consequences due to the lack of resources.
“Everyone can succeed in [AP African American studies],” Scheinkopf said. “This class is for everyone, and we’d love to continue to see it grow.”
For Scheinkopf, ensuring all students are able to learn in AP African American studies, despite the class’s small size, is vital to promoting a healthy learning environment. Similar to the challenges faced by students, Pioquinto notes the struggles of teaching a new course where the teaching material is often not in English.
“The main barrier we’ve found is language,” Pioquinto said. “We’ve found main sources and anthologies from different sources, but if we’re not fluent speakers of the language, we can’t translate them, which causes us to be unable to fact-check if translations are accurate.”
Pioquinto emphasizes that compared to popular classes that have been taught for years, these struggles have been amplified because the course is within the first year it has been offered. Despite the struggles unique to niche classes, Sharma feels that they offer students a unique opportunity to build relationships with other students.
“Something I’ve noticed about [AP African American Studies and AP Art History] is that there’s a stronger community bond [between the] students [who are] able to connect over the class,” Sharma said.