Freshmen at Rider are the “guinea pigs” to the new endorsement plan which was decided in August 2014 by the state.

“I do think in some ways it can be a little alarming,”  counselor Jennifer Spurgers said. “The nice thing is that you can still change your endorsement once a year.”

And although the plan is a good step in the right direction, Spurgers said, uncertainty from students is often received.

“There’s a lot of confusion about what’s still required,” Spurgers said. “For example, World History isn’t a required course anymore,so there can be a lot of confusion about that.”

Not only has the new endorsement plan caused confusion about classes, its purpose has also been put into question by freshmen at Rider.

“I don’t understand the purpose of the endorsement plan,” freshman Savannah Dickson said. “Besides the fact that it might look good on college applications.”

With the new changes made to the curriculum as a result of the endorsement plan, the district decided World History would become an elective, Spurgers said.

“As a World History teacher it’s disappointing,” World History teacher Christopher Hartman said. “Under the current plan, students could graduate from WFISD without ever taking a World History class,which I think equips them poorly for the real world and for college.”

With the class now as offered as an elective,World History teacher Todd Chamberlain feels like the district is cheating students by not requiring World History.

“I feel like it’s important for students to learn World History,” Chamberlain said. “To me, it makes more sense to make Geography an elective since I can build Geography into World History.”

Seniors who have already taken the class believe that World History is more beneficial as a core class not as an elective.

“Kids should know the history of how civilization came to be,” senior Alessandra Cerreta said. “As Pearson said, if we don’t ever learn history, then we won’t learn from our mistakes.”

Since students aren’t required to take World History, many won’t have to learn the “things that have shaped what we are today,” Chamberlain said.

“To think that students won’t have to learn about all of the historical figures covered in World History is kind of depressing,” Chamberlain said.

When World History was required,students’ said the benefits gained by students greatly outnumbered the disadvantages.

“For other classes you need to have a base knowledge of what has happened in the past with the world,” Alessandra said. “I wouldn’t have survived Human Geography without World History.”

The disadvantages of the new changes have been contemplated by the freshman and staff at Rider.

“It’s important to know what goes on in different countries,” Savannah said. ”A lot of other countries affect the United States.”

As Rider grows more diverse in culture, the students no longer have the opportunity to “study about African History, Asian History, or Latin American History,” Hartman stated.

“Student population is growing more diverse by the day,” Hartman said. “Without World History being required, there is a distinct lack of diversity offered when it comes to history within the district.”