ASHLAND — Social studies at Ashland High School is a standards-based, document-centered program. AHS Principal Josh Packard spotlighted that program Monday evening for members of the Ashland City Schools Board of Education.
Packard reviewed each social studies course available to AHS students, offering a glimpse into what students are learning about.
Courses available include:
- World History (Freshmen)
- Modern World History (Freshmen)
- Honors World History (Freshmen)
- American History (Sophomores)
- Honors American History (Sophomores)
- American Government (Juniors)
- AP U.S. Government and Politics (Juniors)
- Economics (Juniors)
- Honors Economics (Juniors)
- Holocaust (elective)
- Psychology (elective)
- Sociology (elective)
- Western Civilization I (College Credit Plus)
- Western Civilization II (College Credit Plus)
“The key thing to know about our social studies curriculum, for those folks that are asking, is that really the core content comes from and is driven by the Ohio standards or the advanced placement standards or national standards in the case of psychology,” Packard said.
“That’s what defined what we’re going to cover in class, the knowledge and skills that our students need to learn.”
From there, AHS teachers take those standards and expectations and map them in a logical way, contemplating pacing, when to fit in documents and primary sources, literacy skills and more.
Most resources used in the high school’s social studies courses come from McGraw Hill, the principal said.
“We supplement that with some primary resources and then our teachers use those things to guide discussion, to do analysis, to do vocabulary and review,” Packard said.
AHS social studies program puts heavy emphasis on primary sources
From the time students enter AHS as freshmen, they are introduced quickly to primary source documents, something the principal said he’s proud of.
“We want them to see the documents that made history, right?” Packard said. “That’s really important to all of our teachers.”
As an example, he cited the Truman Doctrine — which established that the U.S. would “provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces,” according to the Office of the Historian.
Packard said students may review the document and then identify elements such as its origin, context, intended audience and word choice. After that, teachers work to connect the historical document to modern times, including how it may have impacted policy.
“Students are reading these documents as they go through, they’re analyzing them, coming to conclusions and learning how to support those conclusions with evidence,” he said.
This process, or those similar, are applied to a variety of additional documents and primary sources, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Articles of Confederation and the Northwest Ordinance, just to name a few.
“Our curriculum says what students study and how they support conclusions. It’s not what conclusions they have to come to. It’s similar to what AU (Ashland University) says, we teach you how to think not what to think,” the principal said.
The high school’s social studies program covers history from the year 1600 through present.
Holocaust elective popular among students
Packard said former AHS educator Dan Fuller started an elective course about 20 years ago covering the Holocaust.
Since its inception, the course has been one of the high school’s most popular electives.
“Our students learn about where in history genocide occurred, they learn some vocabulary terms, the rise of antisemitism and how that affected some post-war scenarios,” the principal said.
“(There are) lots of primary source documents involved in this course — photographs, newspapers, survivor testimony, just learning about that firsthand wherever they can.”
Pam Mowry, school board president, thanked Packard for highlighting what students are learning about and the process its delivered.
“This is the subject matter, when you’re talking strictly academics, that I get asked more about, you know, probably because of political climate and a lot of other things,” Mowry said. “‘What do we teach? What don’t we teach?'”
Mowry asked Packard if his presentation could be made available online publicly for those interested — to which the principal said it could made so.
Here are some dates to note
Ashland Supt. Steve Paramore shared some dates-to-note on Monday:
- On Sept. 25 there will be no school for students. Staff will be in service for professional development.
- The district will have a booth at the Ashland County Fair from Sept. 20 to 26, including a variety of district literature and informational materials.
- Ashland High School homecoming is set for Sept. 26 from 7 to 10 p.m.
