Curriculum changes meet student needs
It’s the day you’ve
been waiting for all summer. Opening up that envelope marked with the Marian
letterhead, just to find out what classes you’re in, sneaking food into, and
eventually drooling on the desk of. Well, maybe you weren’t looking forward to
it as much as your parents might have hoped. Nonetheless, your schedule has
finally arrived.
Unfolding the
paper, your stomach flutters with excitement. Or possibly nausea. Block A is
Clothing and Textiles; Block B is your literature class, reviewing Shakespeare
for both semesters. Typing II class is next – Marian got new typewriters this
year.
The year was 1968,
and classes like these were the norm for any Marian girl, or “Marianite.” The
business program had Shorthand I through III. The religion department at Marian
had many more mandatory classes.
Though the years,
the business department grew smaller, typing became computer literacy. The
religion department consolidated, focusing on outward ministry. As time
progressed and the potential for women grew, call for the Human Ecology
courses, designed to teach sewing, cooking and other home based arts and
sciences, all this decreased.
Excitement for new
classes is felt through all of Marian, and it can be easily said that the
curriculum at Marian will continue to change.