After much speculation, the time has finally come! From “Sisterhood and Society” to “BBQ & Smoking Foods” the Pascack Period is giving students a wide variety of classes to take. The classes are being called “Learn to Learn” classes, and Wednesday was officially the first day that they were in session.

Sierra Stanton, a senior here at Pascack Valley, is enrolled in “Historical Wargaming” taught by Mr. Cann for Session A and “Art of Food” taught by Ms. Andersen for Session B.

“I thought it was pretty cool because it’s two classes that aren’t real classes, it’s sort of like club activity,” she said. “The only thing I didn’t like is how short it felt in comparison to other classes.”

Sophomore Sonia Anand is enrolled in “Quiet Study” and “Beauty Isn’t Makeup” taught by Ms. Tina Marchiano.

“I chose the makeup class because I love makeup and skincare ever since I was younger.” Anand said. “I’m interested in the Art of Food class for next semester because I want to be able to cook and create.”

These classes don’t have to have anything to do with the classes we are learning in school, which gives kids a refreshing break from core classes such as math, language, history, science, and English. In fact, Mr. Russ Grier and Mr. John Murtaugh are working together to teach “Woodlore: A Nature Study.”

“I really like the class because Murt really knows what he’s doing and the two of us have strengths and weaknesses that we complement each other on,” Grier said. “Our personalities gel nicely and we work well together.

“Overall we have thirty-one students in the class and we tried to engage them in a little show and tell in ‘what is this plant, what is that plant.’”

Grier is excited to possibly teach the class again next year with some new ideas incorporated, adding, “I would like to do it again next year but also do something different and build upon it. I don’t want to come up with a totally new class but it’s definitely a passion of ours.”

Mrs. Bonnie Slockett is teaching “ Sisterhood and Society” with a diverse selection of teachers from each department or education from math, English, physical education, science, history, and art.

“Our goal is to give students who take the course a wide variety of perspective of struggles for women,” Slockett said. “I really like working with other teachers. Not only do the teachers benefit by building on each others ideas but the students benefit because of so many rich voices coming to the table.

“We took a survey of reasons students took the course and it seemed like a lot of them were drawn to having a lot of teachers teach the course and a desire to learn more about women’s history and issues because they feel like they don’t know enough.”

The Pascack Period has also given students a chance to teach their own classes. Senior, Jake Boyle is teaching a class called “3D Animation Through Blender.” It’s not usual for students to be the teacher of an actual class, and Boyle reflected on turning the tables on his fellow students.

“It was an interesting experience,” he said. “The first day wasn’t so great because most of the class time was used to distribute and install the programs and go over the basics. I’m hoping that for the future, the classes will get more fun to teach as I delve into the more complicated topics.

“I discovered Blender last year through robotics and just by playing around with it I discovered how powerful it could be as a tool and a toy,” he added. “I wanted to teach it because I saw it as a class that I knew I would have taken it if it were offered by somebody else.”