This school year brings two big changes to the history department, a criminology class added to the course catalogue as a new elective, and teacher Teresa Gerent returns to after a two year absence.
Gerent, who will seem like a new teacher to many, took part in a program at CSUSM for the last two years. The Distinguished Teachers in Residence program in which she participated, invited her to instruct alongside other professors.
“I was teaching future middle school and high school teachers.” Gerent says. The program provides its students with a practical look at what it is like to teach in a classroom.
Since her return, Gerent is adjusting to teaching all day in a classroom setting, which is much different than a college-level teaching schedule with shorter days of teaching. This year, she moves between two different classrooms on campus to teach her classes.
“I didn’t realize how much I would miss teaching in a classroom,” she says. “Teaching all day long is lot harder physically, but I love being with the students.”
Gerent has taught the Socio-Political History of Rock and Roll class for the last 10 years, starting at Rancho Buena Vista High School. On campus at MVHS, she taught the class for four years before she left for the college program. Currently, the class is offered only to juniors and seniors and meets the “G” category of the UC/CSU requirements as a college prep elective.
For students who are “interested in music,” Gerent says. “They should take the History of Rock and Roll class.”
Gerent also teaches the newly added “Criminology-Street Law” class, which has been introduced to the school for the first time this year. This class is also offered only to juniors and seniors, and meets the “G” requirement for graduation discussing an introduction to law, civil rights, the courtroom, and crime. It is also meant to give students a better look into the criminal justice profession.
According to Gerent, “If they have an interest in watching crime shows, they would probably be interested in taking the class.” She thinks taking the class could help students with Government and AP Government classes and in “understanding what their rights are as an individual.”
BreeLynn Butler