Criminal Justice and Urban Studies are Popular Huntington Electives
One of the most popular elective courses at Huntington High School has long been Criminal Justice, a half-year, half-credit class available to juniors and seniors who have successfully completed 10th grade social studies.
“The aim of the Criminal Justice course is to give students a thorough understanding of the criminal justice system as it operates on the local level,” according to a description found in the high school course bulletin. Eric Bruckbauer is assigned to teach the course.
The curriculum includes a discussion of felonies and misdemeanors, the principles of criminal law, the roles of the police, district attorney, judge and defense attorney and “the nature of criminal court procedure,” states the course description. “Activities in the course include field trips, expert speakers and mock trials, all designed to enhance the students’ appreciation for the adversarial nature of criminal litigation.”
"Mr. Bruckbauer has brought the Criminal Justice course alive for his students this year and over the past several years,” said Joseph Leavy, social studies department director. “Always seeking approaches to meet student interest, Mr. Bruckbauer has led class trips to the Riverhead jail, sought out guest speakers, and has designed and implemented mock trial simulations so that his students complete the course with a deep understanding of the New York criminal justice system."
Urban Studies is a half-year, half-credit elective course led by teachers Fred Bisogno and Erik Bruckbauer. “The goal of this course is to study the American urban society by using New York City as a framework,” according to an official course description.
Students delve into the immigrant experience and the political and geographic singularity of the urban setting. Mr. Bisogno recently re-wrote the course curriculum and both instructors infuse project-based learning into the course.
"Mr. Bisogno has single-handedly revived the Urban Studies course and has added an entirely new dimension to it; that of social conscience and stimulating discussion of the relevance of urban issues to Huntington suburbanites,” Mr. Leavy. “Mr. Bisogno plans to expand the project-based learning component of the class to raise the socially conscious element of the course to the next level."
The course will be offered to juniors and seniors. “This course includes in-depth discussions of urban problems such as crime, transportation, education, city government, ghetto areas, city planning, problems in world cities and the wealth of multi-cultural activities available within an urban area such as New York City,” states the description. Plans for the course include a pair of trips into New York City and “a variety of projects.”
For more information about either of these courses or any other Huntington social studies course contact Mr. Leavy at 673-2079 or jleavy@hufsd.edu.
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