BELOIT—The Beloit School District will be the first in Rock County to offer an Advanced Placement African American studies course starting in the 2023-24 school year.
The course will be open to all students and will be taught by Nicole Powers, co-chair of the social studies department at Beloit Memorial High School. Powers teaches African American studies, American minorities, sociology and AP world history.
“I am proud that our school district understands the importance of offering culturally relevant and challenging college-level coursework to our students,” Powers said in a news release. “All students benefit from examining history through a multi-cultural lens and experience.”
“Our students will experience and learn from a curriculum that elevates voices, stories and history of African Americans,” said Dr. Willie E. Garrison II, Beloit School District superintendent. “This course will also enhance our students’ critical thinking skills and broaden their understanding and exposure of the African American experience and its significance today and historically.”
Topics covered will include origins of the African diaspora; freedom, enslavement and resistance; the practice of freedom; and movements and debates. The course will examine the diversity of African American experiences through authentic and varied sources and will draw from a variety of fields such as literature, the arts and humanities, political science, geography, and science.
Powers has taught for 22 years, 10 of those years at Beloit Memorial High School.
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