Two new classes, Debate and AP World History, are being offered to North freshman students starting with the  2012-2013 school year.

AP World History, another level of Global Studies, is offered starting with the class of 2016. Students learn about patterns between civilizations over time at a more challenging level. However, the expectations for the students are not the same as in other AP courses.  “They’re still freshmen,” AP world history teacher Betsy Holman said. “It’s designed to be a course to introduce them to what an AP course is like and to help them be successful in future AP classes.”

Past grades were only offered one level of Global Studies during their freshman year. By adding this advanced placement option, a more rigorous curriculum can be implemented while still having similar materials to that of Global Studies. “AP World History was the best match for the Global Studies curriculum,” Scott Dahlberg, director of the  Social Studies department, said.

Yet, the district could have chosen a different course, AP Human Geography.  “[AP human Geography] doesn’t have the cultural emphasis… [Cultural emphasis is] a part of the richness of Niles North. We teach the great religions of the world while having the people who are sitting next to you being from all the great religions of the world,” Dahlberg said.

As for Debate, there are two classes associated with it: Debate, and Introduction to Debate. The latter is a one-semester course offered mainly to freshmen to fulfill their new public speaking requirement. Students in Introduction to Debate are encouraged, but not required to join the debate team. Yet those who do both, such as freshman Ben Barov, find skills they learn in class benefit their performance on the team. “Right now in class we have learned the structure of a debate and we have learned how to take notes on our competitor’s speeches,” Barov said.

Intro debaters start class periods with speaking drills and then research this year’s national topic, transportation infrastructure investment. “We have done some research on what exactly does that term mean, how can the federal government increase its investment and where should we focus that investment, maybe on roads, bridges, highways, mass transit- all of those types of things,” head debate coach and debate teacher, Katie Gjerpen, said.

Debate is a more challenging course, and students are required to participate in the Niles North  debate team. Instead of homework, students engage in practice debates during after-school meetings once a week and travel to one competition per semester.

In both debate courses, students learn the skills and strategies necessary to participate in debate. Debaters on the team benefit from extra time to learn study skills.  “Last year, we as novices competed against others who had a class and therefore more experience,” sophomore debater Ambria Benesch said.