Citizenship is a hot topic for a lot of our student body, especially with the end of the year coming up so quickly. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably on My DSD right now doing the math to see how many more days you can miss before your citizenship goes down the drain. Many of us are prepared to be/are already dealing with the repercussions of our citizenship and might be wondering what exactly it is you have to do to make it up.

FHS recently implemented a new U make up course on canvas, but hopefully you won’t have to be finding that out. If you unfortunately do, there have been many positive regards for the new course.

“I actually really like the new course. It made it really easy to understand the topic you were trying to learn instead of just busy work. Compared to the ones before, this one is more interactive and specific to yourself and your situation and why you got the U,” sophomore, Dayton Runyan, said.

No one likes facing the consequences of their actions, but this new course not only gets you your credit back, but can also teach you some helpful skills along the way!

“It’s a lot more fitting to individual students because we’re able to assign units that correlate with the reason they’ve received the citizenship,” citizenship coordinator, Mrs. Banner, said.

Of course, it’s always better to not get a U in the first place, but with the new course you’ll be doing work that actually makes sense and can be helpful rather than feeling like busy work.

“I think this system is working a lot better than before. In the past we’ve had citizenship cleared, but the make-up work hasn’t been equal to the reason it was earned. This system is making students more mindful of the behavior that caused them to receive a U,” Banner said.

Be sure to be aware of your citizenship, especially with the end of the year so close. There are ways to avoid summer course work though. If you know you’re close to a U, talk to your teacher about it. Teachers are supposed to provide a way for students to make up a U before it goes on their transcript. It’s preferred by administration and students to deal with it before they have it on the record.

“You should definitely talk to your teacher before term though, it’s a lot easier than the courses,” Runyan said.

One thing to be aware of is that once a U is on your transcript you can make it up, but it won’t be changed. You will receive your credit back, but it won’t be taken off of your record. It’s probably in your best interest to talk to your teachers before you even have to consider taking the canvas course, but if you find yourself in that unfortunate position, it proves to not be all that bad.