NASH students jumped on the opportunity to join the brand new AP Government and Comparative Politics course this year. Many other schools have had this class available to students, so it was time for North Allegheny to get with the program.

The course was in the works for about two years and was officially decided on in the fall of last year. After the curriculum review, led by Mrs. Keats, the chairperson of North Allegheny’s Social Studies Department, it was decided that North Allegheny was in need of this course. In their review, they found that AP Government was the most offered AP test, yet another reason to offer the class. The comparative politics portion was added because the department realized that students enjoy being involved in and learning about politics.

The goal of the department is to offer enough choice for students to pursue their interests. Since the course is new, it is expected to undergo changes throughout; however, the content will remain the same. The students here at NASH were excited to see this new course as an opportunity to challenge themselves and hopefully cushion their GPA’s.

This new course fills up two periods, 1st and 10th. There are 60 total students that will be taught by Mr. Maddix, who helped design the course. He was very excited to get this year started and said, “Yeah, I find the study of other governments interesting, having lived in England, Australia, and Japan I feel I bring perspective about other political systems.”

Many students seem to have a positive attitude about the new course. It was announced last year and quickly was the talk of the more politically involved students. From the students that were interviewed, all of them enjoy the course.

First period student Nate Gierczynski said, “Yes, I like this class. I like the way Mr. Maddix makes world events interesting and engaging. It’s a great start to my day.”

Another student in first period, Evan Migliozzi said, “I enjoy learning about different governments in various countries around the world.”

Most students seem to like Mr. Maddix’s teaching of the course. Dom Calabrese said, “I like Mr. Maddix, and it is interesting for the most part.” He seems to be well-liked among his students. Changes are expected to be made as the course matures.

The course starts out hitting on basic government terms but is now headed towards Britain, Mexico, Nigeria and more diverse governments around the world. The course is also supposed to hit many parts of the American government, along with hot topic issues.

In regard to students’ opinions about the class, Maddix said, “So far I think they like the class. It depends if you are interested in politics because it is less of a history class and more about politics.” 

The popularity of this class is expected to stay high as the course makes its way towards next year. The department, however, is willing and ready to make changes based on the amount of students who want to tackle this course.

Maddix added, “If we have to, we will shrink it to one period of 30 or so kids.” After all, “the primary purpose of social studies education is to help students develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an increasingly interdependent world.”