The switch from chalk to a smartboard hasn’t been the only change to education over the years.
In recent years, teachers have been taking note of evolving student behaviors since the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the new mental health challenges that present. Those at Communications High School (CHS) are now tasked with trying to figure out what these changes mean when planning lessons.
It’s been a learning curve for most educators to fight against AI, but for Spanish teacher Courtney Van Arsdale, it’s second-nature; after all, Google Translate has been around for a lot longer than ChatGPT.
“Production exercises have been moved to be done in the classroom so that students may utilize only their notes and vocabulary lists,” Van Arsdale said. “There is a temptation to get outside help if I send the assignments home.”
The topic of mental health has also been a major source of discourse among many. United States history teacher Sharon O’Keefe believes that mental health has always been an issue, but the way it’s dealt with has differed from generation to generation.
“I think there’s always been anxiety and apprehension about grades and school,” O’Keefe said. “I think today it’s amplified more, and I have more people that aren’t able to adapt to those feelings and work through them as successfully as in the past.”
Math teacher Scott Stengele noted the increased competition between schools to hoard the “cream of the crop” in terms of gifted students.
“The student body here has changed over the years in terms of not having 400 people applying anymore to try to get in,” Stengele said. “A lot of comprehensive high schools in our county have started their own specialized programs in order to keep their better students, rather than send them here.”
People still feel as though CHS still has its benefits, however, both from an educational and creative standpoint. Sophomore Dylan Csazar of Holmdel transferred to CHS at the start of the 2025-26 academic school year and believes that CHS’s specialized coursework is both stimulating and manageable.
“Holmdel was great, but I feel like the work at CHS teaches me something,” Csaszar said.
Design teacher Laura Fallon agrees with Csaszar, saying the learning experience at both CHS and the Monmouth County Vocational School District (MCVSD) is designed to give students that unique experience.
“I think the unique thing about CHS, or the whole concept of the MCVSD academies, was to offer students a balance of both rigorous academics but also introduce them to and emphasize the [Career and Technical Education] experience,” Fallon said. “What may come with a higher workload comes with a deeper learning and understanding.”
