Niles North offers classes that represent the diverse student population

Niles+North+offers+classes+that+represent+the+diverse+student+population

Bella Levavi, News Editor

A bead of drool drips off your lip onto the ground as you doze off in history class. The teacher is going on and on about Oliver Cromwell or William Henry Harrison. You wish there would be classes that do not only focus on old white guys but enables you to be aware of your surroundings.

Niles North, acknowledging its diverse student population, has created social studies classes that focus on non-white history in order to give students of color an opportunity to learn about their own backgrounds and history, and be able to connect what they are learning in class to their own lives.

A recent graduate of the World Religions class, Adriana Oh, said, “having the opportunity to take World Religions has been one of the most rewarding educational experiences I have ever been given at Niles North. While in this course I have gained a plethora of knowledge about religion. As someone who lives in Skokie and attends an extremely diverse high school, learning about the different religions that I am surrounded by every day has opened my eyes. I did not consider myself to be an ignorant person, but after being in the class for only three months I have realized that there is much about religion that I was blind to. I feel proud to be able to tell my friends about the difference between Hindus and Muslims, what it is like to be inside a Sikh Gurdwara, and point out a Mandir while driving through Skokie. I truly feel that every student at Niles North should have the opportunity to take World Religions.”

World Religions has just been added this year to the curriculum and has had a class both semesters. While in most history classes Christianity is the dominant religion discussed, this class gives students an in-depth understanding of religions from all over the world. The class covers Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Asian-American Studies is also a new class that has just been added to the curriculum, and also has high enrollment for the first time this elective has been run.  A student from last semester Asian-American Studies, Tolga Kessler, said, “Asian American Studies was a course that was able to invoke curiosity with what it means to identify with Asian-American. I was able to learn my cultural roots more and see my family’s history being taught for once. I reflected on who I am and was able to learn the narrative of countless Asian groups coming here. It widened my view on issues faced by my people. Lastly, it inspired me to see a united Asian-American force and have this group of people who can stand with one another in solidarity under the similar struggles of being Asian in America.”

Asian-American studies focus on the unique experiences of different Asian-American groups and their quest for assimilation into American society. With Asian American being the largest identifying group at Niles North the stories taught in this class can make a great connection with the students. The class discusses what an Asian-American identity means for the first part of the semester. Later in the semester, the class learns about Asian immigration to America throughout American history.

Modern African and Latin American History class covers the history and current events of the two regions. The class is divided into nine-week sections. The first section focuses on three countries in Latin America. The next sections focus on three countries in Africa.

The teacher of the class, Panakj Sharma, said, “We created this class with the goal to create a relevant curriculum for students interested in learning different stories and experiences from those learned in their average history class…Even though students learn some of this history in freshman history, this class is a deeper study of these specific regions… Hopefully, this class gives students more empathy and gets them interested in other parts of the world.”