Recently, HRHS announced a new class that would be added to their curriculum next year: ACC Colorado History. In a description given out via email, the class was described as such: “Presents the story of the people, society, and cultures of Colorado from its earliest Native Americans, through the Spanish influx, the explorers, the fur traders and mountain men, the gold rush, railroad builders, the cattlemen and farmers, the silver boom, the tourists, and the modern state.”

“I’m actually going to be the first teacher in Colorado to do the dual enrollment with ACC with Colorado history,” said Dominic Douglass, social studies teacher. “I wanted to give people another option. In social studies, you kind of have regular classes and you have AP, you don’t have anything in between.” The curriculum of the class will be a departure from the standard history classes offered, with its more focused look at Colorado. Students should expect something different in ACC Colorado History due to its status as a dual enrollment class and unique topics covered within.

Because of his masters degree, Douglass can teach a concurrent enrollment class with Arapahoe Community College. “I wanted to find something that was unique, and for a lot of my masters program I focused on Colorado history, so I thought that just worked hand in hand,” said Douglass. 

“I definitely think it will be an interesting class,” said Christopher Milton, sophomore. “And the fact that it’s concurrent enrollment gives the class the freedom to try something new.” In a concurrent enrollment class, as long as a student gets a grade of a C or better, they will get college credit. The class will also serve as a glimpse into the types of courses they will see in college, hopefully preparing them for it. The only prerequisite for the class is to receive an Accuplacer Writing score of 225 or higher, or an SAT writing score of 450 or higher.

“I’m excited to learn more about Colorado history, and I think that this class will be perfect for that,” said Milton. The difficulty of ACC Colorado History will be higher than other standard classes, yet below that of AP classes, and will still attempt to be as engaging with students as possible. “So it’s definitely going to be a step up from my world or my US history classes because it is an upperclassmen class,” said Douglass. “It’s a fun elective class that will only be a semester, you’ll get college credit, you know there are a lot of good reasons to take the class.”

Cooper Sellers, Staff Reporter