{"id":7436,"date":"2025-10-27T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/?p=7436"},"modified":"2025-10-28T11:07:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T16:07:56","slug":"history-education-and-graces-hallmark-individuality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/history-education-and-graces-hallmark-individuality\/","title":{"rendered":"History Education and Grace\u2019s Hallmark Individuality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr. Alex Dillon with his senior students in Senior Seminar for History on Thursday. Media provided by Wilson U. \u201827<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As debates over civic education swirl across the United States, teachers and administrators are faced with the question of what kind of citizens high school should hope to create. At Grace, administrators and the curriculum must balance independent exploration with general educational requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Junior Opportunity   <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the foundations of the Grace curriculum is that in Junior year, students can individually tailor their course selection<\/a>, taking more than one class in a subject they are passionate about. Grace\u2019s five core academic subjects are Math, Science, Literature, Foreign Language, and History. Starting in 11th grade, students can concentrate in one of these five cores or pursue an arts major. This flexibility, built into the curriculum since the high school\u2019s founding in 2012, allows students to lean more deeply into their passions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability to tailor one\u2019s courses to their academic interests is a hallmark of the Grace High School education. Assistant Division Head of High School, Tom James, recalled that on his tour of Grace, he heard from a student that the ability to concentrate or major \u201cwas one of the first things he told me about why he chose to come to Grace and what appealed to him about the school.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, in order to focus on their passions, students must drop either History or Science, because the other three cores are considered cumulative or foundational. Students can replace History or Science by doubling up in one of the other five cores, or by pursuing an arts or film major. For example, a junior could drop History and double up in Literature, or drop Science and double up in Math. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see students take advantage of this flexibility all the time in terms of concentrating in math or concentrating in science,\u201d said Tom James, Assistant Head of the High School. \u201cWe even have the option to concentrate in literature or history, though those are sort of rare options.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among current 11th-grade students, more than a quarter dropped history. Most did so to take Data Science, while a remaining third did so to pursue an arts major. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside Our History Curriculum <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes at Grace, following one\u2019s passions means making hard decisions. Alex A.A. \u201827 says he loves history, but chose to drop the subject so that he could pursue his simultaneous interest in the Data Science elective. Students have many interests, ranging from the humanities to STEM and foreign languages. The Grace curriculum, with one\u2019s ability to double up in some classes, strives to meet student\u2019s academic interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

History teacher Dr. Alex Dillon explained that, in his eyes, classes in Grace\u2019s history curriculum are relatively independent from each other, unlike STEM subjects, which build on one another more sequentially. \u201cIf you have never taken an intro to European history course,\u201d he explained, \u201cyou could still get the course on the Russian Revolution.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All Grace students are required to complete at least two years of history. Ninth-graders take World History, covering Eurasia from hunter-gatherers to the modern era. Tenth-graders take History of the Americas, exploring North and South American histories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe idea is that there are certain things in different parts of the Americas that can be usefully studied in tandem,\u201d explained Dr. Dillon. \u201cQuestions of indigenous culture being colonized, and then issues of liberation from a colonial power.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Dillon reflected that the content of World History and History of the Americas ensures that students \u201cwill come out with more than just an understanding of the Anglo-American world.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debates Swirl Over Civics<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, the United States faces a crisis in civic education, with an increasing number of young Americans failing to grasp the structure of the American political system and the democratic principles at its core. According to the US Chamber of Commerce<\/a>, a 2023 study revealed that \u201c70% of Americans fail a basic civic literacy quiz\u201d and that only half could correctly identify the law-making branch of the federal government. Currently, only four states<\/a> (Idaho, Louisiana, Virginia, and West Virginia) mandate a full year of civic education and the passage of a civic literacy test in their curricula. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

History, unique among Grace\u2019s subjects, provides students with an understanding of institutions that have played crucial roles in the evolution of democracy in the United States and around the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

History Department Chair Dr. Toby Nathan shared his perspective: \u201cThere have been discussions about building in traditional civics. We look at American politics and culture, and we think we are in need of understanding human experience a little bit more, understanding our past a little bit more.\u201d But he acknowledged that requiring a third year of history would be a major change, as it would fundamentally alter the GCS curriculum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of these discussions about incorporating civics, Dr. Nathan reflected on his experience of the History Department\u2019s development of a potential interdisciplinary class with the Literature Department. The semester-long course would have focused on \u201cAmericanness and American identity,\u201d modeled on a similar class on Berkeley Caroll. However, Dr. Nathan said that following a major change at the school and events in his own personal life, the proposal lost steam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Dr. Nathan, the bigger issue goes beyond Grace\u2019s walls. When considering what subjects are crucial for civic education, Dr. Nathan reflected a parallel in his view between STEM and humanities education, arguing that both are foundational for student development. \u201cHumanities is an important part of understanding science too, right? Humanities and math and science go hand in hand in creating thoughtful citizens.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When considering how the curriculum ensures that students have a well-rounded education in light of national educational challenges, Mr. James reflected that, \u201cin terms of academic advising, we do tell students that the most common program is the five core subjects.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s students are coming of age in an era that is likely to be defined by political gridlock, national polarization, and democratic backsliding. In this historical moment, conversations about how to raise thoughtful, engaged citizens will play a foundational role, including at our school. 
Wilson U. \u201827 is a staff writer at <\/em>The Grace Gazette.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Alex Dillon with his senior students in Senior Seminar for History on Thursday. Media provided by Wilson U. \u201827 As debates over civic education swirl across the United States,… Continue reading “History Education and Grace\u2019s Hallmark Individuality”<\/span> <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":7437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3,8,1002,748,200,7],"tags":[180],"appful":[],"class_list":["post-7436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-advisory-announcements","category-culture","category-current-events","category-politics","category-recent","category-school","tag-featured"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9uEnr-1VW","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-24-at-5.22.16-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7436"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7442,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7436\/revisions\/7442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7436"},{"taxonomy":"appful","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/appful?post=7436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}