MOHS To Offer New Diplomas To Recognize Hard Work

By Chelsea Opong-Wadeer

High school is the gateway to discovering who and what a student wants to be when they grow up. It is the stepping-stone to figuring out what career path they will select when they apply to college.

Mt. Olive High School (MOHS) plans to recognize these students and their hard work towards the career path of their choice by offering a new diploma program.

Starting in Sept., MOHS will start offering four different types of diplomas known as the Distinguished Pathway Diploma Program. These will include a Traditional Diploma and an Honors Diploma, which will recognize advanced coursework. Additionally, there will be a Pathway Diploma to recognize students who complete sequences of courses in specialized fields of study, such as engineering, business, art, humanities and performing arts.

Lastly, there will also be an AP Capstone Diploma, which will be awarded in association with College Board, to recognize students that engage in rigorous scholarly practice of core academic skills needed for college readiness.

Principal Kevin Stansberry discovered the idea of the AP Capstone Diploma on College board after some research. It was once he discovered this idea, he was able to blend the other diplomas to ultimately recognize students who excel in certain areas of art more than math, and still allow them to explore other classes, while still having a specific focus.

“This program isn’t just about what students do in the classroom, but what they’ll do in the future,” said Rob Feltmann, assistant principal of student services.

“Students will be able to take their interests in a specific area to the next level with this new program,” he added.

Specifically for students interested in the Pathway Diploma of engineering, the program will follow these guidelines: the student will sign up for the intro to engineering class in the fall, then as the years go on, the student will complete four more courses geared towards different fields in engineering. Once students near their senior year, they will complete a capstone project in engineering.

Here the student will be able to show what they’ve learned in engineering and how they can see themselves utilizing these new skills and ideas in the real world.

“We are hoping to add more majors to the Pathway Diploma in the next few years,” Feltmann said. “We want to add art, English, and more of the sciences, but for September we will have the engineering program available as we work on these other programs.”

This program will not be available for the class of 2016 to complete due to the number of classes needed to complete the program, but for the class of 2017 and below, the program will be available for them to complete in time for graduation.

According to Feltmann, the program does not need to be started in a student’s freshman year of high school; it may be started in their sophomore year and still be completed on time.

“High school’s a time where students are learning more about themselves and what they want to do in life,” Feltmann said, “so we hope that this program will be able to help students have a better feeling about their future career path.”