Senior Seminar Syllabus
Course Overview
Senior Seminar is a required course for all 12th grade students in the Camden City School District. Senior Seminar will facilitate students’ successful transition from high school into higher education or career-based fields. In meeting this goal, the course has four main areas of focus:
1. College & Career Readiness – Students will explore, plan, and prepare for life after high school. Students will discover themselves by writing a personal statement, researching postsecondary institutions and career interests, and becoming financially aware of the costs related to continuing their education and ways to offset those costs as well as applying to colleges.
2. Personal Financial Literacy – Students will gain knowledge, skills, and ethical values when making consumer and financial decisions that impact themselves and their family so they can become financially responsible adults.
3. Book Study – Students will master the skill of analyzing and critiquing non-fiction works through processes that will prepare them for college level courses.
4. High School Appeals – If the student requires an appeal to graduate high school, the appeal work will be done during Senior Seminar.
a. Appeals’ work DOES NOT replace existing coursework. Any work missed while working on appeals will need to be turned in no later than 5 business days before final exams start.
Required Text
The New Jim Crow – Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander
Student Expectations
As seniors entering the real world in less than a year, students are expected to:
●Be present & On time
●Meet deadlines
●Be prepared for class with a pencil/pen and paper.
●Be mature, respectful & open minded
Resources
Students will be working with a variety of different online resources, such as but not limited to:
●Odysseywear.com for Personal Financial Literacy
●Naviance.com for College & Career Readiness
Grading
Senior seminar is evaluated through a modified mastery grading system. Some non-content based elements and key assignments have no retakes. In college and in life there are things that must be completed in a timely manner.
●Unit Tests, Projects, and Essays
●Book study analysis
●Classwork
●Homework Assignments