NIC Available classes at Lakeland

At Lakeland High School in front of one of the many NIC teachers classrooms on Tuesday, March 9th. Taken during the first few minutes of class while the teacher was getting prepared for the day.

Brelyn Ganske, News Writer

At Lakeland High School they offer multiple different dual credit classes from North Idaho College located in Coeur d’Alene. 

Shannon Hall, an English teacher at LHS, is teaching a dual credit course called English 175, also known as Literature and Ideas. 

Hall states that “the class consists of reading the literature, discussing its elements, and analyzing the pieces for further depth of knowledge. This class is for seniors who have a 3.0 or above and want to earn college humanities credits at the same time as earning high school English credits.”

In most of the NIC classes available you must have a C or better in a certain subject depending on the class you are wanting to take. 

In this specific class they read two to three different books. You would also analyze the different types of literature. It is class to take in replacement of English during your senior year. 

Another teacher at Lakeland, Shannon Mattila, is a math teacher. She teaches College Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus as dual credit classes. 

Matilla feels as if teaching at Lakeland is very similar to teaching at NIC.

“The best part is that students do not have to leave Lakeland High School to earn these credits so they get the traditional high school experience while being able to take advantage of the many dual credit offerings here” states Matilla.

These teachers were required to get their Master’s degree and go through an interview process with NIC instructors. 

With a required teaching lesson. They must also follow both NIC and LHS protocols for teaching so it is very important that the instructors teach the class just like a normal college course.   

The teachers are also required to work with a NIC mentor to ensure that they teach the same way at the high school as the college. Teachers will also have to go to meetings and be observed by NIC.

Many other teachers will be teaching a dual credit course next year including the following: Coleen Hall, Shannon Hall and Shannon Mattila.

Most teachers that have been teaching dual credit courses for a while now have also been at lakeland for most of their teaching careers. The normal teachers at Lakeland that do not teach the dual credit feel as if the dual credit teachers are just normal coworkers and still plan some of the lessons together. 

Though if the new replacement levy does not pass most teachers will no longer be able to work at LHS.