New Advanced Studies interest group starts at MHS

Kris Long, Opinions Editor

The new Advanced Studies interest group hopes to open more opportunities to Manhattan High students to take their education outside the classroom. 

The group was voted in unanimously by Student Council on Wednesday when brought to the floor by senior student body Vice President Will Bannister. While the group isn’t fully off the ground yet, they hope to have their first official meeting after school in the commons this Thursday. 

The idea for Advanced Studies was formulated by sophomores President Abdullah Rasheed and Vice President Carly Yi halfway through the last school year. They felt their classes didn’t challenge them enough and that going beyond typical course work would better prepare them for college and later life.

“Our main goal is to provide opportunities… for students that want to go further into their projected field of study,” Rasheed said. “Whether that be at the collegiate level, or… real [workplace] environments… [as well as]  generally to just provide an environment for similarly academically ambitious students.”

The group currently has 22 members and founding sophomore members Rasheed, Yi, Ronan Tanona, Sam DeLong and Jecca Park have already written the constitution and met many of the prerequisites to become a club.

They hope to work alongside Kansas State University to better understand the world around them. While they currently have no specific projects they’re working on, the group hopes that they can create an environment where, individually, they can ask questions and explore ideas outside of the parameters of a rubric. 

“I think Manhattan High School is a very good school with very good students,” Fink said. But [along with coursework] they also need to see…  the rest of the world out there. And so their idea for the club is, what else is out there? What else do they need to know?”

While they are planning on coordinating with the university, the group is not connected to the University Level Research and Mentorship class run by Janet Stark. 

Along with helping students challenge themselves, the group intends to help students with college preparedness. 

“[Advanced Studies]  will definitely [help students] prepare for college [and] what they want to do in the future,” Yi said. “I think are club will give people the opportunity to…  explore what they want to do in their post high school years.”

Without clearly defined parameters, the group is hoping to provide an environment that is academically challenging while giving students the flexibility to explore their own interests and pursue their future ambitions.

“Our school is wonderful and it has so many opportunities for students,” Tanona said. “But we really wanted to add a little something more and make sure [students] are able…  to expand on everything else provided to them and do things independently.”