Pathways

Grade 9     .50 Credits     Level 1     Course # 2510
What do you want to do to earn a living? What is your future career goal? This course will focus on exploring your academic and career goals, as well as, assisting you in making the right course selections to further your educational goals while attending Deer Lakes High School. Emphasis will be placed on decision-making, goal planning, self-assessments, trends in society, and the power of a positive attitude. Students will also spend time investigating post-secondary options for college and/or the workplace. Finally, students will create a cumulative portfolio that represents their career and educational goals.

Personal Finance
 Grades 9-12    .50 Credits    Level 1     Course # 2611
Personal Finance is a one-semester course designed to prepare students to effectively manage their money and make wise financial decisions as they become independent adults.  This course will be taught through traditional and virtual learning methods.  Students will learn how to effectively manage, earn, and borrow money as well as manage risk, save, invest, and utilize financial services.

**Beginning with the graduating class of 2020-2021 a student who successfully completes a course in Personal Finance during grades nine through twelve shall be permitted to apply the credit earned towards social studies or mathematics.  The course cannot count towards both.
 
Evolution of Games & Game Design
 Grades 9-12    .50 Credits    Level 1     Course # 2511
Identify how games reflect a culture’s political and social structures, learn about games and their rules by building game prototypes and play testing the games and produce quality research and creative design products, including your own prototype.  Learn how professionals design games and understand the role of a game designer.  Learn about and apply the elements of game design, modify existing games and develop your original game prototype.
 
3D Modeling 1
 Grades 9-12    .50 Credits    Level 1     Course # 2512
Learn the 3D modeling techniques that will allow you to take a thought and generate it into a physical object by 3D printing. Using Autocad, Inventor, and Fusion 360, you will work in this highly skill-based art form to manipulate and sculpt pure imagination into substantial forms. Students identify and navigate the different areas of the interface, navigate viewpoints, and make effective use of 3D space.

3D Modeling 2
 Grades 9-12    .50 Credits    Level 1     Course # 2513
This course is the continuation of 3D Modeling 1.  In 3D Modeling II students continue to develop their skills in 3D modeling techniques used in movies, visual effects, video games, cartoons, commercials, and animation, including textures, skinning, rigging, and lighting! By the end of the course, students will have developed a portfolio of original projects that they can use when applying for an internship or a job in the creative field of 3D art.
 
Gamemaker Programming 1
 Grades 9-12    .50 Credits    Level 1     Course # 2521
Students will receive an introduction to basic programming by building two dimensional games utilizing the GameMaker the 2D game engine.  Apply GML scripting language in game building activities, identify similarities between Python, Java, and C++ programming.  Students will create completed 2D designed games, problem solve to debug programming errors and refine the iterative process.
 
Gamemaker Programming 2
 Grades 9-12    .50 Credits    Level 1     Course # 2522
This course is the continuation of Gamemaker Programming 1.  Students explore complex 2D programming concepts such as animated sprites, user interfaces and feedback, and views.  Learn how to build increased difficulty into games and explore advanced data structures including maps and dictionaries.  Students will finish complete stand-alone executable games that can be played with friends and added to their digital portfolio.
 
Sports Entertainment (College in High School: Point Park University)
 Grades 9-12    .50 Credits    Level 1     Course # 2514 
This course will take you on a step by step journey of the exciting world of sports and entertainment marketing and management.  Students will develop a thorough understanding of the marketing concepts and theories that apply to sports and sporting events. This course will cover sports and entertainment marketing, marketing-information management, promoting sports and entertainment, the economics of supply and demand, sport and entertainment legal issues and entrepreneurship. During this course, students will participate in activities that will give them realistic hands on experience.   
College in High School credit through Point Park University is available for 11th and 12th grade students, fee involved.
 
Spreadsheets
 Grades 9-12    .50 Credits    Level 1     Course # 2515
Have you ever wanted to buy something very badly but didn't have enough money to pay for it? Maybe you weren't sure how long it would take you to save the money. A spreadsheet is an excellent tool to help you answer this type of question. A spreadsheet is an electronic worksheet that will help you manage and organize information. In this course you will create and edit spreadsheets, format the information attractively, use formulas and functions, and create charts to display spreadsheet data.
 
Web Page Design
 Grades 9-12    .50 Credits    Level 1     Course # 2517 
This is a project-based course will teach students how to build their own web pages. Students will learn the languages HTML and CSS, and will create their own live homepages to serve as portfolios of their creations. HTML and CSS go hand in hand for developing flexible, attractive and user friendly websites.  HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is used to show content on the page, whereas CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is used for presenting the page. Students will finish this course with tangible, professional, and mobile responsive websites.
 
Accounting 1
 Grades 9-12    .50 Credits    Level 1     Course # 2518
This course provides a basic understanding of the principles of accounting.   Emphasis is placed on developing a better comprehension of business terms and conditions as they apply to a business. Students will be able to complete the accounting cycle for a service business formed as a proprietorship.  The course provides a strong foundation and is highly encouraged to students wishing to major in Business Administration or any of the business disciplines.  
 
Accounting 2
 Grades 9-12    .50 Credits    Level 1     Course # 2519
An introduction to accounting emphasizing how general purpose financial statements communicate information about the business corporation's performance and position for users external to management. Approximately one third of the course emphasizes how the accountant processes and presents the information and includes exposure to recording transactions, adjusting balances and preparing financial statements for service and merchandise firms according to established rules and procedures. The balance of the course examines major elements of the statements such as cash, receivables, inventory, long-lived assets, depreciation, payroll, bonds, and other liabilities and stocks.
 
Advanced Web Page Design
 Grade 9-12     .50 Credits     Level 1     Course # 2525
Students will develop thorough understanding of HTML markup language and how it is used in website construction.  The class will explore how to create intricate websites using advanced cascading style sheet design elements.  Students will also learn how to create complex design and logo elements into their websites utilizing Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.  Students will create websites by using Div Tags and JavaScript and explore interactive animation capabilities of Adobe Flash for creating state-of-the-art websites.

Introduction to Computer Programming (Carnegie Mellon University Course Design)
 Grade 9-12     .50 Credits     Level 1     Course # 2526
The course’s main goal is for students to learn the fundamentals of programming, to enjoy coding, and to be able to use programming creatively to help solve problems in a variety of domains. No prior programming experience is required. Introduction to Programming is a Python course with an emphasis on critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity. Specific topics include functions, variables, expressions, conditionals, loops, strings, lists, graphics, and animations, as well as top-down design, testing, and debugging.

AP Computer Programming
 Grade 10-12     1.00 Credit     Level 3     Course # 2523
AP Programming is an advanced study of computer programming methods.  Computer systems and their applications continue to permeate throughout every facet of society at an increasing rate.  The demand for individuals who possess a true understanding of how computers operate and how to program them is also increasing.  In today’s world the limit of an individual’s success is increasingly dependent upon their ability to understand and use technology.  This course will focus on the Java programming language.  Java has become one of the primer languages in computer studies since the advent and subsequent growth of the World Wide Web.  Often used in conjunction with other object oriented languages such as C++ and Visual BASIC, Java provides a backbone for many of the e-commerce transactions which take place every day on the internet.  Students in the course will be required to integrate Java code along with HTML to develop processes which will operate in a globally networked environment.  Development of a year- long case study will allow students to benchmark their performance with a real world application.

Students interested in this course should be highly self-motivated individuals who can endure the rigors of independently developing, testing and troubleshooting computer code.  Completion of this course and successful performance on the Computer Science A or AB exam at year’s end can result in exemption from a college level Computer Science course. Students will be required to take the AP Exam or take a final exam at the end of the school year.  Students will be responsible for the cost of the AP Exam.

AP Computer Science Principles
 Grade 9-12     1.00 Credits     Level 3     Course # 2524
Computer Science Principles (CSP) curriculum is a full-year, rigorous, entry-level course that introduces high school students to the foundations of modern computing. The course covers a broad range of foundational topics such as programming, algorithms, the internet, big data, digital privacy and security, and the societal impacts of computing. Students will be required to take the AP Exam or take a final exam at the end of the school year.  Students will be responsible for the cost of the AP Exam.