The allied arts department will pilot two new elective courses, Fundamentals of Business & Administrative Services and Business Foundations, which are designed to expose students to additional career paths, beginning next school year.
Director of Curriculum Jana Clarke said the new courses will be the first classes recommended for students interested in business. Those students would then take Personal Finance, which remains a graduation requirement, she explained.
Business Foundations will be the recommended introductory course for students interested in business, and Fundamentals of Business & Administrative Services will be recommended second, she added.
Both classes are semester electives, open to all grades and worth half a credit. They have no prerequisites, Clarke said.
She said the classes were created as part of the annual curriculum audit, when departments evaluate the courses they offer.
Clarke explained the Education Service Center, a public education agency, conducted a survey in English classes regarding what careers students are interested in.
Clarke said business was one of the most popular answers, so she and other members of the allied arts department designed new classes to allow students to explore business career paths. She explained the courses were based on outlines provided by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
“The end goal is that kids get exposure to different careers that they might not have known about,” Clarke said. “They might learn something and get excited and want to pursue that in college.”
According to the Business Foundations course proposal, the class is an introductory course for business and administrative services, finance and marketing careers.
Topics such as business concepts, career readiness technology use, employability and leadership, and personal finance will be taught in the class, according to the course proposal.
Clarke said Fundamentals of Business & Administrative Services will expand on Business Foundations.
“I want them to understand what goes behind making a budget, how you forecast numbers in your products, what it takes to organize a logistical experience, et cetera,” she said.
Clarke explained the lessons in these new courses will be different from core academic classes, as they will be more interactive and project-based.
“There would be hands-on simulations,” she said. “They would have to market a product and do presentations that explain the elements of marketing.”
Clarke said these classes have also been created because of the district’s adoption of a new technical training program for business, which allows students to obtain industry-recognized credentials.
The credentials include seals acknowledging a person has a specific desirable skill, such as the ability to use Google Ads, Adobe applications or Microsoft Excel, she added.
Junior Gavin Zwick said he took Online Personal Finance this year and is interested in studying business in college.
“I feel like these classes would help more with finding people that are interested in business,” he said. “Even if you’re not going into that career, it’s always nice to have another option.”
Zwick said he would sign up for one of the new classes, given the opportunity.
“The simulation aspect of it is very interesting to me,” he said.
Clarke explained the class will be available to students next year as a pilot program.
“The goal of the pilot is to see if there’s enrollment, to see how the course works, to see how kids do on the web exams and to see if their interest is in the further pathway,” Clarke said.
If the courses are well-received, they will be officially launched in the 2027-2028 school year, and additional business classes will potentially be developed, she said.
Published and digitized February 2026.
