Next year, Clover Hill will introduce three new courses that students can take: African American History, AP Seminar, and Service Learning.

Although Service Learning was offered at Clover Hill in years past, Service Learning will now include a mentorship program between CHHS and feeder schools such as Swift Creek Elementary and Clover Hill Elementary. 

Counselor Tripp Lawsone believes that this elective, which English teacher Kellilyn Jones will teach, offers students a real-world opportunity to make a difference in their community.

“[A student must] be in 12th grade, provide [their] own transportation, commitment, maturity, and strong desire to make an impact in a young student’s life,” Lawson said.

Lawson hopes students who decide to sign up will understand the commitment the class requires and how it is one of the more unique and exclusive courses offered to the senior class. 

“This isn’t an honors class that will boost a GPA, but it is a class that can make a big difference in the lives of the student mentors and their mentees,” Lawson said.

Another new course that will be offered is AP Seminar, an Advanced Placement course that, according to Math/Sci administrator Nathaniel Henry, is primarily targeted to juniors.

Henry hopes that juniors can further their critical thinking skills through this class and the research opportunities it provides.

“AP Seminar is a foundational course that engages students in cross-curricular conversations that explore the complexities of academic and real-world topics and issues by analyzing different perspectives,” Henry said.

This course provides a unique opportunity for students to be able to experience aspects of several different AP courses, but it is also unique to Clover Hill. 

“Clover Hill High School will be the first school in CCPS ([and] one of the very few in Central Virginia) to offer AP Seminar and then AP Research the following year. I feel this is a great opportunity for our students here to expand their research skills,” Henry said.

One aspect of this AP course that is convenient for students is that there are no true requirements, at this point, for AP Seminar. Although, Henry suggests that independent students with strong writing skills would be the best fit for the class. 

“A confident writer who is organized and can work independently with confidence in the work that they will produce. In addition, they need to be willing to take a risk and try something new,” Henry said.

The next new course that is being offered next year is African American History. This class will be offered to juniors and seniors and will be taught by history teacher Cluny Brown. 

According to Brown, there are no prerequisites required for this course, but she does have recommendations. 

“I think a basis in US history would certainly help the content make sense, but if you look at history as a puzzle, we will be adding some long-missing pieces that will make the picture more complete,” Brown said.

The Chesterfield County history curriculum is tried and tested, but that does not mean that it covers every aspect. Brown claims that the majority of history classes are taught from a Eurocentric point of view which causes history to leave out major key points. 

“The US has a rich and complicated history, and I believe that the better we understand our past, the better we will be able to tackle our future,” Brown said.

These three courses were added to the CHHS course list. If students are interested in taking these courses, they should reach out to their counselor.