By Carol Anders Correspondent
PLYMOUTH — The Plymouth Schools administration and board whole-heartedly endorsed proposals for five new courses for Plymouth High School.
The courses, discussed at last night’s board meeting,  include: Discrete Mathematics; Probability and Statistics; Advanced Placement Psychology; Advanced Placement Statistics; and Project Lead the Way-Course One, Introduction to Engineering Design.

“We are teaching algebra and geometry at the junior high level. Those students could exhaust our curriculum,” said PHS Principal Jim Condon.
Plymouth High School instructor Earl Boyer briefly outlined the proposed math offerings. Boyer explained that Discrete Mathematics is a course designed for students who will undertake high-level mathematics in college that may not include calculus.
The course, recommended for juniors and seniors, includes counting techniques, matrices, recursion, graph theory, social choice, linear programming, and game theory.
Probability and Statistics is also designed for junior and seniors.
According to Boyer and Condon, the course will be offered to students who have successfully completed PreCalculus or PreCal-culus honors and counts as a mathematics course for the General, Core 40, Core 40 with academic honors, and Core 40 with technical honors diplomas. Topics include: Descriptive statistics; probability and statistical inference.
Also targeting juniors and seniors is the proposed Advanced Placement Statistics course based on content established by the College Board and offers the required curriculum for students taking the Advanced Placement Test in Statistics.
Boyer stressed that the courses will include group collaboration.
Social Studies Department Chair Laura Kryer introduced the proposed advanced placement Psychology course She said it is a college-level course that is designed to introduce students to the systematic and scientific studies of behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals.
The fifth course being proposed is in cooperation through Purdue University. Project Lead the Way is a pre-engineering technology program being offered in more than 3,000 schools this coming year, including school districts in all 50 states.
Superintendent Dan Tyree said he has met with a group of local business and industry owners. He said they were excited about the proposed new courses.
“This is about economic development for Plymouth and Marshall County” he said.