Students Not Receiving the Credit Where Credit is Due
Dance and robotics do not qualify for certain credits making it difficult for students to fulfill graduation requirements.
By Mia Howell
Dance and robotics do not qualify for certain credits making it difficult for students to fulfill graduation requirements.
By Mia Howell
To graduate high school, students need to meet requirements specified by the school. Although many students take classes that count towards these requirements, some are excluded, making it harder for students to complete certain credits.
While students need credits for core classes, students must also complete Visual and Performing Art credits as well as physical education credits. SJUSD requires students to complete 20 Visual and Performing Arts credits and 20 PE credits. Although there are many options for classes that qualify for VPA credits such as beginning and advanced drama, fine woods and film studies, there are a few courses that do not qualify for those VPA credits. Robotics and beginning dance are some of them. While beginning dance does receive an elective credit, robotics does not receive any credits, making it more similar to a club rather than a class even though they are their own separate group.
“Robotics is considered an extracurricular activity,” said robotics mentor Lonny Weissman. “We used to have a class, a ‘robotics class,’ when (math teacher Cody) King was here and they would get elective credit but they don’t anymore.”
Robotics takes up a lot of after school time. During the build season, a period of six weeks where the team designs, manufactures, programs and tests their robot, students will meet a total of 27 hours in a single week. This season started in January and goes through the end of April.
For the University of California system, in order for a class to receive VPA credit, it must have some form of performance or presentation aspect. For robotics, the team attended many competitions such as regionals and this year made it to the world championships in Houston, Texas.
“Because of the time commitment and demanding work involved, robotics can be very difficult. That being said, it is by no means impossible and really quite accessible, requiring no prior knowledge or (prerequisites),” said team programmer Louis Gendzel, 10. “There is so much to be learned through robotics, arguably even more than in many classes. If sports counts for PE credits, why can't robotics count for elective credits?”
At Pioneer, beginning dance only receives elective credit, whereas performance and advanced dance receive VPA credit. None of the classes however receive PE credits. While PE credits are not a part of the A-G requirements, and also are not factored into the GPA that most colleges calculate, they are still required in order to graduate from high school. In SJUSD, students must complete two years of PE credits, so all freshmen are required to take PE Course 1, but PE Course 2 is optional, and can be replaced by playing two or more seasons of a sport or by taking weightlifting.
Despite being physically and mentally demanding, dance is not always considered a sport. Dancers are expected to attend several hours of practice throughout the week which happen during the school day and take place during a normal class time.
“I think that dance should receive PE credit. It is as much of a workout as other sports are,” said dancer Rachel Carney, 11. “Having practices for long periods of time (a few hours or so) is extremely tiring and strenuous on the body.”
Due to beginning dance not being a part of any performances, students who take the course do not receive VPA credits, however, PE and dance teacher Emma Jahde is working to add a performance aspect to the class so that students can receive that credit.
“I think there is a need to have options of dance counting as PE credit and elective credit and also having some of the dance classes count as performing art credit,” said Jahde. “We have a lot more students who need an additional PE credit (rather) than the Visual (and) Performing Art credits.”
While students need credits for core classes, students must also complete Visual and Performing Art credits as well as physical education credits. SJUSD requires students to complete 20 Visual and Performing Arts credits and 20 PE credits. Although there are many options for classes that qualify for VPA credits such as beginning and advanced drama, fine woods and film studies, there are a few courses that do not qualify for those VPA credits. Robotics and beginning dance are some of them. While beginning dance does receive an elective credit, robotics does not receive any credits, making it more similar to a club rather than a class even though they are their own separate group.
“Robotics is considered an extracurricular activity,” said robotics mentor Lonny Weissman. “We used to have a class, a ‘robotics class,’ when (math teacher Cody) King was here and they would get elective credit but they don’t anymore.”
Robotics takes up a lot of after school time. During the build season, a period of six weeks where the team designs, manufactures, programs and tests their robot, students will meet a total of 27 hours in a single week. This season started in January and goes through the end of April.
For the University of California system, in order for a class to receive VPA credit, it must have some form of performance or presentation aspect. For robotics, the team attended many competitions such as regionals and this year made it to the world championships in Houston, Texas.
“Because of the time commitment and demanding work involved, robotics can be very difficult. That being said, it is by no means impossible and really quite accessible, requiring no prior knowledge or (prerequisites),” said team programmer Louis Gendzel, 10. “There is so much to be learned through robotics, arguably even more than in many classes. If sports counts for PE credits, why can't robotics count for elective credits?”
At Pioneer, beginning dance only receives elective credit, whereas performance and advanced dance receive VPA credit. None of the classes however receive PE credits. While PE credits are not a part of the A-G requirements, and also are not factored into the GPA that most colleges calculate, they are still required in order to graduate from high school. In SJUSD, students must complete two years of PE credits, so all freshmen are required to take PE Course 1, but PE Course 2 is optional, and can be replaced by playing two or more seasons of a sport or by taking weightlifting.
Despite being physically and mentally demanding, dance is not always considered a sport. Dancers are expected to attend several hours of practice throughout the week which happen during the school day and take place during a normal class time.
“I think that dance should receive PE credit. It is as much of a workout as other sports are,” said dancer Rachel Carney, 11. “Having practices for long periods of time (a few hours or so) is extremely tiring and strenuous on the body.”
Due to beginning dance not being a part of any performances, students who take the course do not receive VPA credits, however, PE and dance teacher Emma Jahde is working to add a performance aspect to the class so that students can receive that credit.
“I think there is a need to have options of dance counting as PE credit and elective credit and also having some of the dance classes count as performing art credit,” said Jahde. “We have a lot more students who need an additional PE credit (rather) than the Visual (and) Performing Art credits.”