Ponte Vedra High School (PVHS) is\u00a0adding\u00a0two new classes to its curriculum, those being a financial literacy course and Debate Honors. These\u00a0two\u00a0classes\u00a0will\u00a0offer students\u00a0skills that will\u00a0apply\u00a0both\u00a0in\u00a0everyday life and\u00a0later\u00a0in\u00a0a professional context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new elective\u00a0course titled\u00a0Debate Honors\u00a0will be offered starting during\u00a0the 2025-2026 school year. This advanced\u00a0class\u00a0will\u00a0offer\u00a0students\u00a0more\u00a0significant opportunities\u00a0to\u00a0develop\u00a0their skills in argumentation, public speaking, and critical thinking. Debate Honors\u00a0would\u00a0be\u00a0ideal for students who have taken\u00a0earlier\u00a0levels of debate, such as the Speech and Debate Club offered at Alice B. Landrum Middle School. This class is perfect for students ready to take on more difficult material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PVHS counselor Kimberly Grillo, who provided\u00a0information\u00a0about the class,\u00a0described how it\u00a0could\u00a0help\u00a0students.\u00a0“It’s great for students interested in politics and law. Not only that, but debating skills are awesome skills to have,”\u00a0she said. Grillo also\u00a0showed\u00a0how these skills can apply beyond specific careers.\u00a0“Knowing how to present a point of view with evidence and being able to communicate are great skills to have.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Debate Honors\u00a0is\u00a0a new opportunity\u00a0for students\u00a0to explore their interests and develop important life skills, with the limited elective options currently available at PVHS. The class is particularly appealing for students planning careers in politics, law, business, or leadership;\u00a0it is also\u00a0helpful\u00a0for anyone\u00a0who\u00a0wants\u00a0to improve their communication and confidence in public speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides debate, PVHS will add a financial literacy course, which\u00a0will be\u00a0required\u00a0for the class of 2027 and\u00a0beyond, will officially\u00a0begin\u00a0in the 2026-2027 school year.\u00a0Students can currently take it online as an elective. The class is part of a statewide initiative under the Dorothy L. Hukill Financial Literacy Act, passed to address\u00a0what lawmakers called\u00a0a critical gap in education.\u00a0The\u00a0act requires all\u00a0high school students\u00a0in Florida\u00a0to take\u00a0at least\u00a0a half\u00a0credit\u00a0in personal finance to graduate. The course will\u00a0have\u00a0practical topics\u00a0involving\u00a0budgeting, money management, taxes, and banking\u00a0that will prepare\u00a0students with\u00a0real-life skills\u00a0needed\u00a0later\u00a0in\u00a0life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLearning\u00a0to budget and be financially responsible is something that is not always talked about, so setting students up as they leave their parents at 18 is a positive in my eyes,”\u00a0<\/p>Ashlee Henderson<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Assistant Principal Ashlee Henderson shared why the course is such an important addition.\u00a0\u201cLearning\u00a0to budget and be financially responsible is something that is not always talked about, so setting students up as they leave their parents at 18 is a positive in my eyes,”\u00a0she said. Henderson\u00a0also talked about\u00a0how the course\u00a0was created\u00a0to manage eventual financial stress by teaching students to make\u00a0thoughtful decisions\u00a0with\u00a0their money. This\u00a0will\u00a0help\u00a0them\u00a0in\u00a0life\u00a0as\u00a0they\u00a0go\u00a0off\u00a0to college,\u00a0enter\u00a0the workforce, or\u00a0do whatever\u00a0it is they choose to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One unique feature of the financial literacy course is its shorter duration. Unlike most PVHS classes that run for the entire school year, this course is designed as semester-long. This creates a scheduling challenge since PVHS does not currently offer other semester-long electives to pair with it. To solve this issue, the school is considering options like introducing a complementary semester-long course to match with financial literacy or potentially making it a year-long course to ease students’ schedules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The school has not yet\u00a0decided\u00a0how the\u00a0success of the\u00a0course\u00a0will be measured,\u00a0but\u00a0Henderson\u00a0believes its creation alone is a win.\u00a0“Any financial literacy for students is considered a success,”\u00a0she said. Even with a\u00a0simple\u00a0knowledge\u00a0of how to manage finances,\u00a0the\u00a0students are\u00a0bound\u00a0to\u00a0stay\u00a0away\u00a0from\u00a0the\u00a0pitfalls\u00a0of getting\u00a0into debt or mismanaging their budgets.\u00a0In this respect,\u00a0by preparing\u00a0the\u00a0student\u00a0with these skills early on, the school is giving them the tools to navigate real-world challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Together,\u00a0the\u00a0two new classes stand for PVHS\u2019s commitment to helping students\u00a0be successful. Financial literacy will\u00a0provide\u00a0students with knowledge and confidence to handle the tasks of\u00a0budgeting and saving money.\u00a0Debate Honors will teach\u00a0the\u00a0students how to articulate their thoughts, defend their ideas, and\u00a0create\u00a0meaningful conversations. In\u00a0addition\u00a0to\u00a0life skills, PVHS\u00a0will\u00a0address special\u00a0interest areas to enable the\u00a0students to face\u00a0challenges\u00a0in\u00a0an ever-changing world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graphic done by Ryder Navarra<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Max Sheikh Ponte Vedra High School (PVHS) is\u00a0adding\u00a0two new classes to its curriculum, those being a financial literacy course and Debate Honors. These\u00a0two\u00a0classes\u00a0will\u00a0offer students\u00a0skills that will\u00a0apply\u00a0both\u00a0in\u00a0everyday life and\u00a0later\u00a0in\u00a0a professional context. The new elective\u00a0course titled\u00a0Debate Honors\u00a0will be offered starting during\u00a0the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[688,691,138],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/maxdebate.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7472"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7484,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7472\/revisions\/7484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n