Charlotte Feinberg (286)

Sophomores and Juniors are faced with the daunting task of evaluating the prodigious amount of classes Central offers when deciding what classes to enroll in for the upcoming year. Central provides students with an extensive list of classes available, some being less known. The IB courses listed below do not require enrollment in the IB program to take them.

IB Astronomy, taught by Mr. Ovetsky, offers students a chance to dive deep into the study of solar systems, stars, galaxies, and astrophysics. Mr. Ovetsky has been teaching astronomy at Central for 23 years (though not consecutively), and the class has been offered since Central High opened in 1838. Mr. Ovetsky shared, “Our observatory was the second best in the country after Yale University.” Central’s previous telescope is now on display at the Franklin Institute. Astronomy continues to be relevant as Mr. Ovtesky emphasized, “A poll among recent college graduates has shown that 100% of astronomy students have found great jobs.” He shared some careers related to astronomy such as GPS services, private space companies, and researching new telescopes. 

Mr. Kelsey, who worked as an Architectural Draftsman prior to being a teacher, currently teaches the half year class: Introduction to Drafting and Architecture. Mr. Kelsey said, “we do traditional, old school, [and] hand drafting.” Students start the class by using rulers, drafting boards, and pencils to learn the basics of architecture and drafting, such as “understanding asymmetric and orthographic projection.” Students are introduced to an online drafting software called Sketchup where they start by designing a basic house and move up from there. Mr. Kelsey highlights that there are many realms of architecture, all having to work closely with engineers to work out the physics and logistics of their ideas.

This year is Mr. Sherwood’s first year teaching the full year course: IB Philosophy. He was quite eager to be asked to teach this course as he majored in philosophy in college. He stated, “The main thing we do is [discuss] the idea of what it means to be a human.” The class investigates how people treat each other, along with what qualities or characteristics make us who we are. Mr. Sherwood also focuses on ethics and ethical dilemmas. He said, “The class is Socratic, we talk a lot.” Overall, if students are interested in deepening their reading, writing, and thinking skills IB Philosophy is the class for them. 

Ms. Ciobanu teaches a newly offered math class: Applied Mathematics Honors. Ms. Ciobanu pointed out that she “was seeing students struggling with putting the math concepts in a real-world perspective.” Ms. Ciobanu guides students through real-life applications of math problems they have been taught. These skills are very important to many careers. Ms. Ciobanu stated that she thinks “Any careers related to all kinds of engineering, such as electrical, mechanical, chemical, or medical fields, economics, environmental science, and architecture require knowledge of mathematics.”

Overall, there are many classes that Central offers that not many people know about.  Each class gives students a unique experience and lesson that can help deepen their interests in certain courses and careers. Next time course selection drops, be sure to consider some of these lesser-known classes to take full advantage of everything Central has to offer.