Ethnic Studies World History coming to WBLAHS South Campus

BY RANDY PAULSON STAFF WRITER

WHITE BEAR LAKE — A new social studies elective is coming to White Bear Lake Area High School South Campus in the 2023-24 academic year in response to the popularity of its North Campus counterpart.

The course, Ethnic Studies World History, will be an optional, full-year class in which students learn about global history through a lens of racial equity and social justice.

“Students will gain a deeper understanding of how the social, economic, intellectual and political contributions of these communities directly connect from prehistory to 1500 C.E., through colonization, to our present global reality,” according to the course description.

Ethnic Studies World History is intended to be “highly collaborative and personal” and develops students’ critical analysis, reading, writing and community leadership skills. The class won’t have any prerequisite classes and will be open to all students interested in taking it.

The course will be similar to Ethnic Studies U.S. History, which is in its second year at North Campus for sophomores and has grown in enrollment from its first year.

Districtwide Family Engagement Coordinator Briana Santoscoy said the U.S. History class has proven to be popular among students and has generated excitement among those enrolled in it.

“It jumped from three sections the first year that we offered it in 10th grade to six this year. So there’s definitely a lot of interest,” Santoscoy said.

Those initial three sections in the 2021-22 academic year had a total of 105 enrolled students; the six sections this academic year total 179 students.

WBLAHS South Campus Principal Dan Bosch also spoke to the course’s beneficial impact at the school.

“Students who have taken this course have shared with us their positive experience about their learning and the relationships that they've built with their peers and their teachers,” he said.

According to Director of Curriculum and Instruction Jennifer Babiash, the World History class would be one of several possible courses that would count toward students’ 3 1/2 social studies credit requirement for graduation.

As with all new course offerings in the district, several criteria went into considering the proposed World History class:

• College and career-readiness standards.

• Employment trends.

• Enrollment trends.

• Perspectives from employers, postsecondary institutions, former and existing students.

• The district’s equity decision-making protocol.

• The school’s capacity to implement the course, such as staffing, scheduling and facilities availability.

Mark Domschot, a social studies teacher at North Campus who’s taught Ethnic Studies U.S. History, said that course has been rewarding to him and his students for many reasons.

According to feedback from his students at the end of the 2021-22 school year, he said they enjoyed “deeper learning of events that happened in history, feeling included in the stories and learning, seeing a connection between history and what is happening in the world today, having guests from different cultural backgrounds come in as classroom guests to share their experiences and life stories and curriculum that was in-depth and thought-provoking.”

“We have been intentional in creating a classroom setting where strong, trusting relationships are formed,” Domschot said.

Board Member Scott Arcand voiced his appreciation for the new social studies class.

“This is an exciting course that we're adding, and I’m just excited to see that we're putting it in the curriculum,” he said.

In other action, the school board:

• Approved the sale of the 2023A general obligation facility maintenance bonds in the amount of $33,415,000. J.P. Morgan was the winning bidder for the sale, with the lowest true interest rate of 2.66%. The district received 18 bids overall for the sale.

• Approved the board members’ compensation for 2023, the levels for which remain unchanged since 2018. The board chair and clerk will each receive $5,450; the vice chair and treasurer will each receive $5,250; and all other members will each receive $5,050.

• Approved the board’s regular meeting and work session schedule through August 2024. Regular meetings will occur on the second Monday of the month, and work sessions on the fourth Monday of the month except during the months of June, July and December, when no work session is scheduled. The March 2024 regular meeting will be held on the first Monday of the month due to spring break, and the May 2024 work session will be held on the third Monday of the month due to Memorial Day.

• Appointed Board Member Kathleen Daniels as White Bear Lake Area School’s representative to Intermediate School District 916 board for 2023.

• Appointed Matthew Mons as the district human rights officer; Alison Gillespie as the Title IX coordinator; and Lisa Ouren, as the district Americans with Disabilities Act/504 coordinator.

• Appointed Wayne Kazmierczak as the 2023 Local Education Agency (LEA) representative for the purpose of reviewing and approving documents required for compliance to federal programs included in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

• Approved Knutson, Flynn and Deans; Ratwik, Roszak, and Maloney; Rupp, Anderson, Squires and Waldsperger PPA; and others as needed as the district’s legal counsel for calendar year 2023. Mathew Mons, director of human resources, will also be acting as general counsel.

• Approved Bremer Bank, the Minnesota School District liquid asset fund and US Bank as the district’s official depositories for 2023.

• Appointed the White Bear Press as the district’s legal publication for 2023.

• Approved an annual resolution increasing the district’s micropurchase threshold to conform to statute.

• Approved the school board’s operating procedures for 2023.

• Approved board policies related to bullying prevention, acceptable use of electronic technologies, immunization requirements, homeschooling, assessment of student achievement, staff development for standards and transportation of nonpublic school students.