Starting next year, District 214 will be partnering with National Louis University to offer classes in business and education for college credit.

These classes will share some similarities to classes offered through a partnership between District 214 and Harper College. However, the National Louis University classes can be taken at any of the high schools in District 214, rather than requiring the students to travel to the college itself.

Another difference between the education classes offered through Harper College and National Louis University is how the students experience the classes.

“The only [Harper class] that [Rolling] Meadows has for teaching is a preschool class, and that’s not really an education class,” senior Megan McCafferty, Education Academy member, said. “You just read from a textbook and write a paper every week. [The NLU] classes get you in the classroom working with kids.”

Along with the addition of new courses, College Intro to Education and College Intro to Early Childhood Education, the Education Academy class, will be changed next year, allowing students interested in pursuing a career in education to gain college credit through National Louis’ classes.

Linda Pribyl teaches Education Academy and will teach the other classes that offer the National Louis credit. She also thinks very highly of what these new classes will offer.

“The new Education Pathway is a tremendous opportunity for students to explore all areas of education while they are still in high school,” Pribyl said. “The variety of classes allow students to receive hands-on experience working with children to discover whether or not education is the career pathway for them with many of the classes offering college dual credit.”

Not only are the education classes benefiting from the new partnership with National Louis University, the business classes will also be receiving some upgrades, such as the addition of classes with credit: Entrepreneurship 1, Honors College Accounting and Honors College Business.

Business teacher Michael Drenth also believes that the new college credit classes offered through National Louis University will provide guidence for students discovering their futures.

“The ability for [students] to have real world experience, try and start the business, and then getting tied into that National Louis [credit] it’s just an extra benefit for those kids,” Drenth said.