Let History Reign

Ryker Jamieson raises his hand to answer a question in a class about economics and history at a Saturday academy at Spanish River High School.

—Bruce R. Bennett for Education Week

In this era when the emphasis in schools is on math, reading, and science, one organization is trying to ensure that history doesn’t just survive, it flourishes.

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

Boca Raton, Fla.

For all the choices of specialized academic programs available to Joelle Chevrier, she finds little to spark her passion for learning in the future-focused offerings in biotechnology and global business at her high school, or the de rigueur math, science, and finance clusters at other secondary campuses here in Florida’s Palm Beach County district. Instead, an unusual program at Spanish River High School allows the sophomore to explore the nation’s past, taking her on a journey through Colonial times, the Civil War, the Great Depression, and other historical eras, far beyond the cursory coverage of the traditional curriculum.

Having found an outlet for her interest, Ms. Chevrier is loading up on social studies classes, even taking extra coursework in the school’s Saturday history academy.

“I really like my history classes and wanted to do more. Math and science don’t really do anything for me, and now I can take five social studies courses because of this program,” she said during a break from a recent Saturday-morning economics lecture on the role of cotton in the economy of the antebellum South. “I’m learning a lot more stuff about [historical events] than...