Amidst news of planned program and course closures from budget cuts, the decision to add a new course is never taken lightly. And yet, for the upcoming 2025-26 school year, students will have the option of taking the new Medical Microbiology course.

Students are required to have taken at least one biology and one chemistry course prior to requesting this course, and are recommended to have completed one other course in the health science career cluster. 

Anatomy and Physiology teacher Jodie Deinhammer requested for this course to be recreated at Coppell High School, which she also plans on teaching. Learners can expect to explore microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, pathogens and more, applying key concepts into the health science fields through hands-on activities. 

“I’m hoping to take some of the things that students are interested in at the beginning of the year and incorporate those ideas into the curriculum as well,” Deinhammer said. “For example, in one of the planned labs, we will look at what kind of herbal remedies would be good at actually killing germs, and which ones are myths.”

Sophomore Prajwal Amara meets the prerequisites to take the course, but chooses not to request it for the 2025-26 school year.

“I personally believe that Medical Microbiology would be an interesting class,” Amara said. “However, due to the fact that it is only an honors course but is still ranked, I will not take the course.”

Lead counselor Ann Cinelli helped authorize the decision to add the course. 

“We often survey for interest from the classes which relate to the topic, like AP Biology and Anatomy & Physiology,” Cinelli said. “It was one that people said they would take, and we said, ‘Sure, let’s try it.’”

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