Background

The AACPS Global Community Citizenship course began as a pilot course in 2017 at Arundel High School. This ½ credit course, now required for graduation, is designed to explore the values and diversity of our local, national, and global communities. Through real world occurrences and issues, students identify and discuss topics, events, and essential questions relevant to their local community which allow them to understand their personal role in demonstrating civic virtues. Students consider the cultural, historical, and technological influences that have shaped our modern society and consider how these impact students’ lives now and into the future.  Students begin with self-exploration to understand what events, traditions, and circumstances have shaped their views, behaviors, and goals. This is followed by the exploration of traditions of people in our local and global communities, with a goal of fostering values of acceptance and inclusion of all people. Active listening and social discourse (conversation) skills will be explicitly taught and practiced during this course.

Approximately 750 Arundel High School students took the course over its first three semesters while in the pilot stage of implementation. Beginning in 2019, all students in the school district are required to take this course during their ninth-grade year. As the course was expanded from one high school to all county high schools, parts of it were customized for each school aligned to their school’s Signature or Magnet theme to provide for maximum student engagement and impact.

This page provides information on the GCC course, including the December 5, 2018, and January 23, 2019, presentations to the Board of Education; answers to frequently asked questions, the course at a glance description; and a video featuring Arundel High School Principal Gina Davenport discussing the course on “Larry King Now.”