By Ms. Miller’s Journalism Class
Pictured here is Ms. Brennan Twardowski ‘10, speaking on her benefit from concomitants. Photo courtesy of Noah Hammerman ‘17.
Do concomitants add to college applications, or just complicate scheduling? Health, Bible, Public Speaking, Art History, and Music History are Wyoming Seminary’s required classes to graduate.
“Our goal is to have students graduate with the most academic discipline possible. That includes an appreciation for the arts, religion, our bodies, and being able to effectively spread ideas to a mass of people,” according to Jay Harvey ‘80, Academic Dean of the Upper School.
It may seem that every one of your classmates is saving health until the spring term of their senior year, but, many students think that there are benefits to the mandatory courses. “Yeah, I believe there are benefits to taking public speaking and health. Learning about anatomy… I use public speaking whenever I give a presentation in class,” said Liam Gilroy ‘17.
These courses help kids in other classes as well, “In bible, I’ve learned about stuff in the Bible, of course, but that’s helped me in english classes since there’s so many references to the Bible in [other] courses,” said Samir Singh ‘17.
Photo of Mr. Harry Shafer 04’ speaking about the positive aspects of concomitants. Photo Courtesy of Noah Hammerman ‘17.
SEM is not the only school in the area which requires “concomitants”. At Scranton Prep, all students are required to take a religion class to “understand better and live out their own traditions and their personally developing faith” according to the Scranton Prep website. Studying religion allows students to process and develop their own religious views.
The Phillips Exeter Academy, a top prep school in the US, also requires courses, including: arts, health, and religion. The Academy believes that these courses “will provide a well rounded education to their students”.
“It helps you become more well rounded and that is what college wants to see.” said Mary Lou Clemente, SEM’s learning support coordinator and parent. Because SEM is a college prep school, these mandatory classes are much like those in college. “It exposes you to something you might not have paid any attention to otherwise… At King’s [College in Wilkes Barre] you still have to take a certain amount of classes outside of your major.” said Patrick Corcoran ‘15. These extra classes make a college application more appetizing. Concomitants may seem like a hassle to schedule around, but you’ll be glad you took them come October of your senior year.