New school year. New class options. A course called Influences of the Bible was offered to students as an elective when they registered for classes earlier this winter. GT English I/II teacher and assistant girl’s soccer coach Courtney Todd is hoping to teach the class for 2016-2017 school year.

There are a series of tests a course has to go through in order to be officially offered on students’ schedules.

“When they are making the master schedule there has to be a high interest level and then we have to have staff that can teach the class,” counselor Amanda Breeden said. “So, there has to be a good combination of us having enough students taking it that it makes sense to offer the class, and then, can it fit with all of the needs that we have that aren’t electives like the core classes.”

Todd is anticipating that she will teach the class if it is offered next year. She is currently in a Master’s program at Dallas Theological Seminary.

“For so long it’s been something I’ve been dreaming up and I will be thrilled to get the go-ahead to start planning,” Todd said. “I have so many ideas and am so excited about what this class could look like.”

Each fall, teachers propose TEA-approved courses they want to be offered. They have to be approved by the deputy superintendent before they are available for students to take.

“A teacher could not just make up something and create a brand new course; it’s going to be courses that were taught at other schools and we just haven’t taught it at our school yet,” Breeden said. “Influence of the Bible has been taught here before, so it was more of seeing if we could see an interest in a class that we’ve had before.”

Junior Garrett Martin put Influences of the Bible as one of his preferred electives for his senior year.

“I thought Influences of the Bible would be really interesting to join with a few friends who are doing it too,” Martin said. “I wanted to join to learn more about the Bible, because I know it’s about the history of the Bible and how it came into creation and [I think it will] help my spirituality and my relationship with God grow a little bit more.”

Issues that can keep a class from being offered include student interest as well as teacher availability.

“I know that Ms. Todd wants to teach the class and I know that there is good interest in it, but we just have to see with the principals how the big picture looks and how it could work,” Breeden said. “So if she takes that she loses something else that she is currently teaching, so someone else would have to absorb that.”

Todd is aware of the possibility of complaints about the school offering a class concerning religion. Despite this risk, Todd explains that the class is anything but religious. The class’ purpose is to teach about the metanarrative of the Bible, not the spirituality associated with it.

“In Influences of the Bible, students study selections from the literature of the Old and New Testaments, as well as secular literature, art, music, and film that allude to or are related to Biblical characters/stories,” Todd said. “Not a religion course, this class is an opportunity for students to learn appreciation for the impact of this portion of Western literary heritage.”

The class ceased being offered because there wasn’t space for it in any of the teachers’ schedules.

“I never heard any complaints [last time we offered it],” Breeden said. “It was taught by [Ginny] Clark the last time it was taught. Each freshman class that we’ve had has been bigger and bigger, so when we look at what we need to offer sometimes electives get pushed to the side because we have to offer the English classes so I don’t think it was anything about the class in particular. Just a spacing, timing, and numbers issue.”

Todd values the English elective as an opportunity for students to gain a greater knowledge of Biblical allusions in literature.

“In general, the Bible is the most alluded to piece of literature, second is ‘The Odyssey’ and third is ‘Alice in Wonderland,’” Todd said. “So, if students know and understand the Biblical stories, they will be able to understand, at a greater depth, different references and allusions as they encounter them in various pieces of literature.”

Students who are looking to take the elective next year are excited about the prospect of learning about the Bible with their friends.

“I was surprised that it was getting offered again and I was actually happy because I didn’t have enough room last year to take it, but this year I hope that it actually is a class,” Martin said. “I know my two friends are really excited for it and I don’t know who else is taking it or if a lot of people signed up for it, but I think most people that are taking it are excited for it and actually [want it to work].”

Todd and the students that are hoping to take the class next year are anxious to see if the class will become a reality.

“I have heard from a lot of students telling me that they are excited and that they signed up,” Todd said. “I have heard from several others mentioning that they just don’t know where it could fit in their schedule. So, overall the feedback has been positive. I’m excited about the possibilities.”