FCS Courses
Contemporary Health
Contemporary Health (Grades 9-12) is a one-semester high school course (offering .5 Carnegie units of credit), which includes classroom and hands-on experiences that help students acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary for making healthy decisions, achieving health literacy, adopting health-enhancing behaviors, and promoting the health of others. In this course of study, emphasis is placed on personal, social, and mental health in today’s society. It includes instruction on human growth and development, disease prevention and control, substance abuse and prevention, community and environmental health, nutrition and wellness, and safety and first aid. Students will receive instruction that is clearly relevant to today’s rapidly changing world. Classes and projects will be designed to spark student interest and enthusiastic participation as well as provide a rationale for content relevancy, thus enabling students to connect what they learn in school to other aspects of their lives, including their futures.
Family and Consumer Science
Family and consumer sciences (FCS) education in Mississippi consists of the CORE program and specific career and technical programs. The CORE program prepares students for living in the real world and helps them develop leadership, problem-solving, decision-making, critical-thinking, communication, computer, and mathematical skills. The specific career and technical programs focus on career exploration and gaining the skills in a specific profession for entry-level employment or the continuation of education. FCS education enhances the leadership potential and essential life skills of its students and encourages life-long learning.
Student Prerequisites
For students to experience success in the program, the following student prerequisites are suggested: 1. C or higher in English (the previous year) 2. C or higher in high school-level math (last course taken or the instructor can specify the level of math instruction needed) 3. Instructor approval and TABE reading score (eighth grade or higher) or 1. TABE reading and math score (eighth grade or higher) 2. Instructor approval or 1. Instructor approval