Changes to the Freshmen Seminar are in the works after members of the Freshman Council spoke at a meeting Wednesday with teachers of the seminar and Dr. Barry Bachenheimer, the district’s Supervisor of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment.

Freshmen Seminar will now only take place during the first half of the 88-minute block during the Pascack Period. The other half will be a study hall.

“The council requested doing away with the full block so within the next few weeks, we’ll be eliminating the double block,” Bachenheimer said.

“We want freshman seminar to be what the students want it to be,” Bachenheimer added. In order to accomplish that, he said that there are plans to modify the curriculum within the next few months.

During the meeting, Bachenheimer first met with teachers and discussed possible changes.

“He discussed the seminar’s original intent,” said Ms. Karen Kosch, a history teacher and freshman seminar facilitator, “and how we could change the curriculum to meet that goal.”

“The freshmen wanted changes in the curriculum,” Kosch added. “They thought some topics were used to fill time rather than provide useful information.”

Freshman representatives Ava Giambona, Jamie Bader, Jerry Madden, and Samuel Cassidy were in attendance to present their case.

“It was great that the council was willing to come,” said Mr. Russ Grier, a science and freshman seminar teacher. “They raised some good points.”

The representatives presented the results of two surveys they administered to the freshman class. A recurring theme in one of the surveys was that freshmen want the seminar to focus more on laptops, study skills, life choices, or peer leader groups. Many freshmen want to learn more practical skills and want time to work on school assignments.

“We should learn things we might need,” Giambona said, “like how to write a resume or how to use computer programs.”

Feedback also indicated that some freshmen feel that the seminar in its current form is not productive enough.

“[The representatives from the student council] were professional and articulate,” said Bachenheimer. “I was most impressed with how they came up with solutions rather than complaints.”

That was, according to the council students, their goal.