Social Studies Department

     The Social Science Department of Thomas More Prep-Marian strives to develop students for life by exposing them to various social science disciplines so that they may achieve academic excellence, leadership formation, spiritual growth, good citizenship, college preparedness and values for life.
                                     

     The social science faculty endeavors to challenge students to reach their potential and then go beyond. Each class is designed to encourage students to think, analyze, question, and discuss the materials being presented. They are constantly being reminded that “hind-sight”  is much easier than having lived the events they study and they are asked to put themselves in the place of the characters and situations which they are studying. Hopefully, this puts them in a position to make character and event judgments from a different perspective than their own.

OUR FACULTY

Mr. Don Hageman is the chairman of the Social Science Department and has 39 years of teaching and coaching experience in Kansas schools. Mr. Hageman teaches Government, Survey of Government, Sociology, World Geography I & II, World Civilization I & II, and 20th Century History. He is also the Scholars Bowl coach and helps with Boys and Girls Soccer.

Ms. Kathy Taylor, the full-time Guidance Counselor, teaches the upper-division Psychology course each semester.  Juniors and seniors have the option of taking the class for 3 hours of college credit through NorthCentral Kansas Technical College.  She has taught Psychology for 25 years and has a major in Psychology and minor in Sociology from Emporia State University and a masters in School Counseling from Fort Hays State University.

Mrs. Judy Mitchell teaches the current events classes and tries to challenge the students to be aware of both world and local events.

Mr. David Klein is the newest member of the social science faculty having just started his teaching here at TMP after graduating from Fort Hays State University. He teaches the American History, Survey of American History, World Civilization I & II, 20th Century History, and World Geography I classes. He also coaches the debate team.


COURSES AND ACTIVITIES

American History
         This course is setup to help the students understand the period from pre-colonial times to the Civil War in the first semester and from the post-Civil War era to the present in the second half of the year.

Survey of History
         Survey of History is the same as American History but with an emphasis on helping the historically challenged student as well as our International students to learn our history.

World Geography I and II
        These classes analyze the development of pre-industrial nations (World Geography I) and developed nations (World Geography II).

World Civilization I and II
        The basis for these classes lies in the need to know our distant past and to be able to learn from it. World Civilization I deals with pre-historic times to the Middle Ages while World Civilization II takes the students from the later Middle Ages to the formation of the nations of the world as a result of the Industrial Revolution.

20th Century History
      This class takes students from the formation of nations to the present. An emphasis on the world wars and major events during the 20th century are an essential part of the course.

American Government
     Our government classes are designed to challenge the students to explore and ask questions about their political institutions and to develop an understanding of the political process. They are encouraged to participate in the political process when they become of age and are shown the importance of being a good citizen.

Survey of Government
     This class is similar to the American Government class except that it adapted for international who may lack background knowledge but are eager to learn the political process.

Electives
     We offer psychology, sociology, and current events to our students who want to expand their knowledge and gain insight into the actions of others as well as their own.

EXTRA ACTIVITIES
     Our students participate in History Day, Boys and Girls State, Scholars' Bowl, Multicultural Day, and the National Youth Leadership Conference.