Breck School - Mustang Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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■ Mr. Blatherwick can always be found in his 22 anxiously awaits students answer i i i '

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MATH Mr. Bruce Degcr Mr. Richard Yonker Mr. James Ross (Department Head) Mr. Jack Blatherwick The Math Department is traditionally one of Breck’s strongest departments. One of the main reasons for this is its three-track program which recognizes the fact that students have different interests and aptitudes. The first two tracks of this program follow a college preparatory course at a pace which is compatible to the average math student. The courses offered here cover the usual areas of algebra, plane and solid geometry, advanced algebra, and trigonometry. The third track, called Q (for Quest), is the Advanced Placement program and all of its courses are Honors sections. Under this program algebra is begun in the seventh and eighth grades, geometry in ninth, a pre-calculus II as a senior. A student participating in this advanced program will take the Advanced Placement Examiniation during the spring of his senior year. This may then lead to college credit and or moving to advanced level math courses in college. This year’s senior class is the first class to have followed the three-track program since it began in seventh grade. Also offered within the Math Department is a computer class. The students in this program are able to utilize Breck’s own 6-15 digital computer in addition to the 6600 computer owned by the University. 21

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HISTORY Mr. Steven Kingsbury Mr. Thomas Tierney Mr. Liam Taaffe (Department Head) History The History Department, because of graduation requirements (a United States History course plus one other course in grades 9-12) and the numerous amount of courses it offers (7), allows its students perhaps the greatest amount of flexibility of all departments in organized pursuit of student interests. Despite the variance of courses and even methodology in teaching, the purpose of the History Department remains the same. It is the hope of its teachers that all history students are better able to interpret the causes of historical events and with this ability gain a greater interest, knowledgability, and understanding of the role of history both past and present. World History, covering Ancient to Early Modern History over the span of two years, is the course offered to the 7th and 8th graders. It is taught by all members of the History Department. The Social Sciences are handled by Mr. Kingsbury who offers an Introduction to Social Science (Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology) to 9th and 10th graders, and Advanced Social Science to the 9th thru 12th grades. Mr. Taaffe, the department’s newest member, teaches both Modern European History and Economics Political Science. The latter is a mixture of various types of economic and political systems. It is offered only to 11th and 12th graders. Mr. Tierney, Department Head, teaches the United States History course and serves as liaison for the Advanced Placement Western Civilization course taught thru the facilities of Channel 2 in conjunction with the Hamline University History Department. Mr. Tierney and Mr. Kingsbury have also been involved in work with 20th Century Problems, a co-operatively taught, multi-discipline course being tried for the first time this year under the leadership of Mr. Howard Chilberg of the English Department. (Mr. Coulter is the Science representative for this course.) 23