How many high school students honestly are fully prepared for their future as an adult? Things like federal taxes, student loans and house payments are phrases that can intimidate many students, those here at FHS included. These very concerns will be addressed in a new graduation requirement, beginning with the class of 2012. Senior Seminar, a class collaboratively created by several teachers throughout the building, will focus on dealing with problems that occur outside of high school. Things like college readiness, financial literacy, life skills, and even civility will be addressed in order to “provide [students] with information to help them be more successful wherever they go,” said Gifted Coordinator Ms. Rita Kaplin. Other things still relating to high school will be covered as well, such as the senior project and the career e-Portfolio. Senior Seminar includes not only valuable information about students’ futures, but also all of the smaller tidbits that are often passed by in the high school curriculum, Ms. Kaplin said. These types of things include knowledge that isn’t found within a core subject, but is still important for students to learn before embarking on the world, such as managing a checkbook and understanding local and federal taxes. Another recent graduation requirement in addition to Senior Seminar is another technology course. This means that two tech courses are required; one being Practical Applications and the other is the students’ choice. As of next year, each student will need 28 credits to graduate as opposed to the previous 26. This change has occurred in order to keep seniors busy. “We had a lot of students leaving early; we wanted to curtail that a little bit,” said Mr. Bennett. Increasing the credit requirement to graduate is a way to keep seniors in involved. Because of the increase in credits, each student must take at least seven classes every year in order to meet this new standard. The trend of increasing credits has been prevalent for four or five years, Mr. Bennett said. Back then, students only needed 24 credits to graduate. The trend of increasing credits derived from the necessity to continue challenging students.