Hundreds of Cedar Rapids 9th-graders get focused guidance in new Freshman Seminar

CEDAR RAPIDS — The newest 400 students at Kennedy High School — ninth-graders — are navigating the halls for the first time Tuesday — some a little timidly, others with a little more confidence.

More than 200 students enrolled in Freshman Seminar — a new and optional class this year — will get a little more guidance in starting their high school journey. The class, also being offered at Jefferson and Washington high schools, aims to teach ninth-graders about career opportunities and how they can explore their interests through other elective courses.

Freshman Seminar teachers at Kennedy High said the class will teach students how to communicate professionally, create a resume, apply for a job and interview, as well as other “skills everyone needs,” said Alyssa Jacobson, who teaches biology and Freshman Seminar.

“These are things that are missing from our education,” Jacobson said at freshman orientation last week, where students walked through their class schedules and met their teachers for the first time.

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Heather Zwanziger, social studies and Freshman Seminar teacher at Kennedy High, believes Freshman Seminar can help “ease” students’ transition to high school, she said.

She said she feels like the program will give ninth-graders the “attention” they need to be successful.

“They’re the most excited. They’re expressive. They’re going to be the next class officers and school leaders,” said Zwanziger, who has been teaching at Kennedy for almost 25 years.

After teaching 11th-graders for “forever,” Zwanziger said she was intrigued by Freshman Academy. She believes teachers should “reinvent” themselves if they want to stay in teaching for “a really long time.”

All freshmen at Kennedy, Jefferson and Washington high schools will be required to take Freshman Seminar as part of the Freshman Academy beginning fall 2026.

The plan is for Freshman Academies to have their own entrances and wing of the building to create smaller learning communities within each school. Teams of teachers will support students in cohorts, building more meaningful relationships and giving students “voice and choice” in their learning, Superintendent Tawana Grover said in an interview with The Gazette.

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Of the 391 ninth-graders at Jefferson High, 201 are enrolled in Freshman Seminar, and at Washington High, 120 out of 290 freshmen are enrolled in the class this year.

Upper academies will open for the 2027-28 academic year at Washington, Jefferson, Kennedy and Metro where students can more deeply engage in learning connected to their career interests.

Creating smaller learning environments

At Kennedy this year, ninth-graders and their core subject teachers in social studies, math, science and language arts also are being sorted into four teams named by associate Principal Robert Johnson. Those teams are the Lions, Bears, Packers and Vikings.

For example, teachers and students on the “Lions” team will always be in those four subject area classes with other teachers and students on the same team.

The idea is to create smaller learning environments in each high school that better connect students to their environment, one of the main components of Freshman Academy.

Johnson said that when students start high school they can sometimes feel like they are “on an island” and “fall through the cracks.” Freshman Academy is an effort to create a “village” where students can build strong relationships with their teachers and peers.

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Students often make decisions about what elective classes they enroll in based “off their friend group,” Johnson said. He hopes by learning what opportunities are out there, students will make choices about their class schedule that truly align with their “passions.”

“Find out what you don’t like. I prefer you find out on our dime,” Johnson said.

‘Lofty goals’ for academic achievement, attendance

Each team also will be in “friendly competition” with the others in an effort to promote achievement and attendance, Johnson said. The goals are:

These are “lofty goals,” Johnson said.

Empowering learning

“A lot of times kids don’t know what they want to do or have all the information of what career choices they can make,” said Katie Peterson, who has taught language arts at Kennedy for 20 years.

By being empowered to choose classes that truly interest them, students will have “a bit more ownership” in their learning, said Peterson, who also teaches Freshman Seminar.

The idea of teaching students to be “better versions of themselves” appealed to Emily Vest, who teaches math and Freshman Seminar at Kennedy.

“I love helping kids learn how to talk to adults. As a freshman, it’s really scary to talk to adults,” Vest said.

“I love getting emails when they’re like, ‘Brah, I don’t know what’s happening.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m not your ”brah.“ Please respond another way.’ Or they write a whole email in the subject line. That’s not the appropriate spot for it,” Vest said.

“We’re going to be working on how to write a professional email that doesn’t include ‘brah,’” said Christina Langton, who teaches language Arts and Freshman Seminar. “How to get a first job, a bank account, how to read your paycheck, these are things 14-year-olds need to know.”

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“All our pathways are going to help them build essential skills to be successful in life. It doesn’t matter if you’re in engineering or education or human services, you’re still going to learn how to communicate, time management, collaboration and all those important soft skills,” Langton said. “As a parent, I should want that for my kid.”

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com