7th Annual Alumni Newsletter - School Web sites hosted by Eugene ...

GRADE LEVEL UPDATES
11th Grade News
The shift from sophomore to junior is often quite dramatic.
The increased rigor and introduction to IB level curriculum
makes this one of the most challenging years in Eugene IHS.
This year’s crew of teachers include Eugene IHS veterans:
Joshua Hamill, Christine Pettingill, Jessica Schabtach,
Steve Smith, Craig Wiebe, and Kyle Yamada.
In Literature of the Americas, our students continue to read
books and dozens of poems and short stories by U.S. and
Latin American authors such as Hawthorne, Fitzgerald,
Cather, Whitman, Frost, London, Perkins-Gilman, Hughes,
Esquivel, and Garcia Marquez. They write in-class essays
and take-home essays and complete creative projects including
poems, visual art-work, portfolios of original work, and
character role-plays. Students also give a ten minute oral
presentation combining analysis and creative interpretation
of a particular work we have studied.
In History of the Americas, our students study the age of
Columbus and the Conquest, and take a look at independence
movements in the region, including the American
Revolution. We examine the causes of the Civil War and
Reconstruction, the Great Depression and the New Deal,
the rise of Castro in Cuba, and the Mexican Revolution.
The study of immigration to the United States and the rise
of organized labor overlaps with the related readings in
our literature class. In addition, all of our students now
successfully complete a sophisticated historical investigation.
This year juniors will take a deeper look at the Civil
Rights Movements in the Americas.
As for Economics, students focus on the interplay between
supply and demand, how unemployment, interest rates,
and inflation, are interrelated, and the differences between
a depression and a recession, inflation and stagnation,
as well as trade deficits and the national debt. Greater
French Immersion students reading to
Fox Hollow 5th graders in 2006
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international emphasis continues in the exploration of trade
and development. Over the course of the year, our students
write four formal analyses of current economic trends. After
scores of students take the IB economics test, we end the year
by looking at the issue of HIV/AIDS on a global scale. This
year, for the first time, students will enjoy a quarter of TOK
in the junior year.
In Junior Projects, all juniors now complete 150 hours of CAS
(Creativity, Action, and Service), begin to investigate colleges,
make plans for testing, and learn to write a résumé. Also, the
highlight for any Eugene IHS student begins at the start of
second semester. This, of course, is the extended essay/senior
paper, as ideas are considered, research questions are conceived,
technical advisors are found, and students complete blueprints
for their upcoming papers, the process for writing their research
paper is underway. You can check out the Junior Projects packet
on the Eugene IHS web page!
So there you have it, the hardest year perhaps, but after
twenty-six years for Eugene IHS the junior year is certainly one
of the most fun and engaging for teachers and students alike.
Please help! We are working to
expand our list of internationally affiliated
agencies where students may volunteer or
complete internships. If you know of an
agency that may be interested in having
student volunteers please contact Lynne Given
at given@4j.lane.edu. Thanks!
Technical Advisors Needed!
Do you have an expertise in one or several areas
of study? Do you want to understand the senior
paper process better? Are you willing to spend time
mentoring a high school student? Then, consider
becoming a technical advisor!
Currently, technical advisors are needed in many
different subject areas, across all campuses. Please
call your Eugene IHS campus today and lend your
support to a Eugene IHS junior who is just beginning
the research process!