The death of the arts
CEO — the dreaded class. All high school students today have dealt with, or are dealing with the struggle of staying focused on the subject. For those who don’t know it, CEO, or career explorations and opportunities, is a newly enforced graduation requirement targeted at Grade 10 students, because five required courses weren’t enough already.
For French students, their selection has been reduced to one elective; zero, if they are also a band student.
Electives are so important for students. They help them learn about who they are and what they like, it’s too bad that they don’t get to pursue them. Without the choice of selection, students can’t experience their desired electives, and so, the courses are lacking in numbers.
The arts courses are hurting the most. Arts always come after academics in the Public Schools Branch’s eyes, and apparently after athletics as well, if that makes sense. It seems as though no one wants to cater to some kids’ creative side, if naming French immersion as an artistic course shows for anything. Arts classes - in particular, those for Grade 10 students, are suffering in numbers. For example, the Bluefield drama classes are so small that they can share two courses in the span of one period and this isn’t the only class to have this problem. Numbers of art students have declined in the last couple of years, with band kids dropping their instruments to pursue sciences and art kids throwing away their paint brushes to run laps in physical education. With the lack of students registering for arts classes, the classes are being cut, leaving the arts teachers with a free period that they now have to fill with a CEO course. They are not CEO teachers. They are creative writing or drama or music teachers who are teaching a course that no student wants to take part in to begin with. It has made everyone miserable.
Bluefield students are lucky. They have an arts program to keep students in touch with their inner artists. Other schools? Not so much. Other art students have to attempt to manipulate their schedule to fit the requirements, without giving up what they care about. They don’t have as many opportunities to both stay in the arts and receive their academics.
It’s hard - trying to incorporate necessities and desires into an eight-course schedule. It is even harder to differentiate between which is which. It differs from person to person. “Is biology my calling, or do I like graphic art?” “Will I be an actor or a mathematician?” Many will focus on the academic choice, but there are students who belong on the silver screen and they deserve the chance to explore the idea. With CEO taking over, they can’t. Sure, it’s possible that CEO may teach them how to combine the two to find a job, but why would they care to combine their academics with an art that they’ve never tried to pursue?
CEO being a course, and taking up room on a too tight schedule, closes students off from what could end up being their passion, if only they had to chance to experience it.