Course Title: HONORS WORLD HISTORY I (required)
Grade: 9 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite: Grade of A or high B in middle school, recommendation from middle school and test scores.

Honors World History I, in a challenging manner, expresses a historical appreciation via the analysis of social, political, economical, technological,
religious and intellectual trends. These trends will be interrelated with other historical periods and modern times. The content areas in this rigorous class include: Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages, The Fertile Crescent and the Birth of Civilizations, Greece, Rome, The Byzantine Empire, Development of Islam, and the Middle Ages. This class elicits an enormous amount of history and will be assessed by quizzes, tests, written essays, power-point presentations, projects, class discussion and debate, critical thinking issues and analysis and evaluation.

Course Title: WORLD HISTORY II (required)
Grade: 9 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite: None

World History II expresses a historical appreciation via the analysis of cultural, social, political, economical, technological, religious and intellectual trends and events. The class will start out with the Renaissance. It will discuss the Protestant Reformation, Exploration and Colonization, Major World Conflicts and Terrorism. Assessments will include tests, quizzes, power-point presentations, differentiation projects and homework.

Course Title: HONORS WORLD HISTORY II (required)
Grade: 9 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite: Grade of B of higher in Honors World History I or teacher recommendation from World History Teacher.

Course Title: WORLD GEOGRAPHY
Grade – 10 Length – Semester Credit - .5 Fee – None
Prerequisite – None

World Geography will examine the physical and human characteristics of Illinois, United States, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and emerging countries (China, India, Russia.) Emphasis is placed on student skill development in the areas of reading, writing, critical thinking, and map skills.

Course Title: WORLD GEOGRAPHY HONORS
Grade – 10 Length – Semester Credit - .5 Fee – None
Prerequisite – Grade of B or higher in last social studies class

World Geography will examine the physical and human characteristics of Illinois, United States, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and emerging countries (China, India, Russia.) Emphasis is placed on student skill development in the areas of reading, writing, critical thinking, and map skills. Students need to be strong in the areas of reading comprehension and writing.

Course Title: UNITED STATES HISTORY 1 (required)
Grade: 11 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite:

Course Title: UNITED STATES HISTORY 1 HONORS
Grade: 11 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite: Successful completion of World Geography course and recommendation by teacher

United States History I Honors uses a creative approach to address the political, social, economic, and foreign policy events representing the great American experience. Students will focus on such topics as: the fight for independence, the development of the American political and economic system, westward expansion and manifest destiny, slavery and emancipation, the evolution of the United States into a world superpower, and more. Additionally, in this course, students will work on important skills such as: critical thinking, reading comprehension, analysis of primary and secondary source material, development of writing skills, discussion and debate of relevant historical issues. This course will challenge students to understand and evaluate the history of the United, States on multiple levels. U.S. History 1 Honors is a reading and writing intensive course that seeks to go into greater depth about significant events in American history. Assessments will include but are not limited to: tests, quizzes, projects, research papers, essays, small group work, written reflections, evaluation, analysis and debate.

Course Title: UNITED STATES HISTORY 2 (required)
Grade: 11 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite:

United Sates History II is a class that looks at the turn of the century (19th to 20th) to War on Terrorism. Political economical, physical and cultural aspects will be discussed with this class. Assessments will include projects, differentiated activities, tests, PowerPoint presentations, homework, class discussion and writing assignments.

Course Title: UNITED STATES HISTORY 2 HONORS
Grade: 11 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite: Successful completion of World Geography course and recommendation by teacher

Course Title: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
Grade: 12 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite: Successful completion of US History I and US History II or teacher approval

Students will explore the basic principles of the United States Constitution and how it works out in our government. In addition to learning what the three branches of national and state government do, students will also take an interactive approach through analyzing documents, participating in class discussion, and going through simulations where they get to role play different government officials. This class prepares students to pass the National and State Constitution Tests required by the state of Illinois.

Course Title: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT HONORS
Grade: 12 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite: Successful completion of US History I and US History II with a grade of B or higher and teacher recommendation.

Students will explore the basic principles of the United States Constitution and how it works out in our government. In addition to learning what the three branches of national and state government do, students will also take an interactive approach through analyzing documents, participating in class discussion, and going through simulations where they get to role play different government officials. This class prepares students to pass the National and State Constitution Tests required by the state of Illinois.

Course Title: CURRENT EVENTS
Grade: 11 – 12 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite: None

This one semester course uses a variety of resources to engage students in the study of important national and international problems, events and controversial issues. The study of each subject includes the origin, historical development and present status. Special attention is given to the vocabulary, geography, and personalities associated with every topic. Newspapers, magazines, nightly Network News, Cable Programs, and Websites will be used as references. Assessments will include PowerPoint Presentations, Debate and Discussion, Analysis and Evaluation, and homework.

Course Title: AMERICAN CULTURE
Grade: 10 – 12 Length: Year Credit: 1.0 Fee: None
Prerequisite: None

This two semester course is a decade-by-decade examination of our American Culture. Students will actively review magazines, poems, books, musical lyrics, paintings, film, architecture, advertisements, sculpture, and major cultural figures. The decades involved in this course will be those of the 20th century. Students will explore the many facets of the class, in terms of their social, political and economic impact on trends in our society. This class is challenging, yet fun, and will be assessed from projects, computer presentations, and tests. American Culture also provides the student with a 0.5 tech credit.

Course title: HONORS PSYCHOLOGY
Grade 11-12 Length: Semester Credit: .5 Fee: None
Prerequisite: Grade of B or above in their last Social Studies class or teacher recommendation.

Honors Psychology is a semester class that explores the psychological aspects of human behavior. Major topics include: Theories of Learning and Motivation, Child Development, Abnormal Behavior and the Study of the Unconscious Mind. Schizophrenia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Multiple Personality Disorder will be dealt with by showing three cinematic productions: “A Beautiful Mind”, “As Good As It Gets” and “Sybil”. Students will also be asked to read two books during the semester: “The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Washing” and “Sybil”. Students will also be asked to view four psychological “thrillers” and turn in a typed, two page critique of each movie. Students will also have an opportunity to conduct and process data. The internet will be used for various projects during the semester. Assessments will include tests, quizzes, power-point presentations, differentiated activities and various types of homework in and out of the classroom. Students will enjoy this challenging and very informational class.

Course Title: SOCIOLOGY HONORS
Grade: 11 – 12 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite: Seniors: Grade of “B” or higher in last Social Sciences course or teacher recommendation. Juniors: Must have “B” or higher AND teacher recommendation.

“Sociology is the study of human interaction in social groups, organizations, societies, and other social systems. Sociologists investigate social and cultural,factors that flow from, and influence, human interaction.” Issues and institutions such as culture, socialization, deviance and social control, social class, inequalities of gender and race, politics, education, religion and social,movements are explored, discussed and analyzed. This course will not be a fact and recitation course; rather it will use primary source material, critical thinking, exercises, research, lively discussion and debate, and cooperative learning to,help students immerse themselves in these important social topics. This,challenging course will culminate with a student-designed research project and, presentation on a timely subject. Assessments will include but are not limited to: written reflections, analysis of scholarly articles, research projects, class participation, quizzes and tests.

Course Title: GEOGRAPHY OF LATIN AMERICA
Grade: 10-12 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None

Geography of Latin America is one –semester course that examines the cultural, physical, political and economical aspects of this part of the world. The countries include: Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. Assessments will include: Power-Point Presentations, Tests, Differentiate Activities and homework.

Course Title: ECONOMICS HONORS
Grade: 12 Length: Semester Credit: .50 Fee: None
Prerequisite:

Economics Honors will be a challenging and rigorous class. This class will emphasize the study of Capitalism. It is designed to introduce microeconomic and macroeconomic fundamentals, with an emphasis on macroeconomics. Topics generally include: Supply and Demand, Types of Competition, Gross Domestic Product, Business Cycles, Government Policies, the Federal Reserve System and Money Supply, Prices and Employment. Students are required to complete projects that analyze current economic topics. This course is intended for the high ability student. Assessments will include: Power-Point Presentations, Tests, Projects, Debate and Class Discussion, Analysis and Evaluation and homework.