Boston — Aug. 5, 2019— The Virtual High School(VHS, Inc.) is excited to announce three new elective course offerings, offered entirely online and available to students everywhere. These unique new teacher-led online courses focus on English Language Arts (ELA), Life Skills and Art, all from a Jewish culture perspective. Students can explore new subjects while earning high school credit in a flexible online format. Enrollment for the courses is now open and classes beginin the Fall 2019 semester.
Experiencing Jewish Texts and Identity Through the Arts is an Art elective that allows students to explore Judaism’s teachings through classical and modern artistic representations of Jewish texts. Students study biblical, rabbinic, medieval and modern Jewish texts and discover how artists have created works to convey their own unique interpretations of these texts. Students will also create their own artworks based on their personal interpretations and identity.
The new English Language Arts elective, Modern Jewish Short Stories, focuses on what makes a story Jewish through the careful reading and analysis of short stories. The literature studied in this course is steeped in the Jewish experience of the authors and offers themes that are universal to the experience and identity of the Jewish people. Using the literary techniques studied in this course, students use their own voice as they design and develop their own original short story to explore their personal experience.
The life skills elective,Practical Ethics for Living a Meaningful Life: A Jewish Approach, explores Mussar (ethics), a Jewish wisdom tradition that presents a lifestyle focused on values.The course explores specific character traits such as patience, trust and respect. Students study Mussar history and theory and compare it to theories of human psychology and development, learning how to bring these ethical principles into their everyday lives.
“VHS prides itself on offering schools, students and families interesting and engaging courses that are not typically available elsewhere. Our new courses offer a unique opportunity for students from all backgrounds to discover more about Jewish culture while earning elective ELA, life skills and art credits,” said Carol Ribeiro, President & CEO of VHS. “We believe collaborative learning and student exchange and interaction is essential for skills development in our global society. These new courses help students broaden their world view and understand diverse perspectives, all while remaining enrolled at their own local school.”
Registration for VHS Fall 2019 courses is currently open. More than 650 schools across the United States and around the world use VHS courses to supplement their local course offerings. Courses are teacher-led and conducted in small, supportive, online classrooms. Courses are available to students at no charge if their local school is a member of the VHS collaborative. Students or schools not participating in the VHS program can also enroll in courses directly. Click here to learn more: https://vhslearning.org/get-started.
About The Virtual High School(VHS,Inc.)
The Virtual High School (VHS Inc.) is an online learning pioneer. Since 1996, the Massachusetts-basednonprofit organization has set the standard for quality online education. VHS offerscourses for high school and middleschool students taught in global online classrooms,and online professional development for educators. The organization meets the unique educational needs of schools through customizedprogramsand individualized course offerings. The VHS program is accredited by MSA-CESS and AdvancED and courses are NCAA-approved.For more information, visit www.vhslearning.org or call (978) 897-1900.
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