THEY'RE STUDYING: The social history of the 1980s. Students are researching topics of the decade, including the government's war on drugs, the rise of televangelism, the AIDS epidemic and the gay rights movement.

"Students will do individual research and work in groups to write and present one-act plays that are meant to be instructive about that social issue," Booher said.

Recently, students in Booher's elective history class also have taken an active interest in Tuesday's presidential primary and local elections. Of the 30 students in the class, 20 took advantage of early voting, Booher said. Another six eligible students promised to vote Tuesday. The students also held a school-based voter-registration drive and drove some peers to early voting locations in Durham, Booher said.

"I never try and persuade them to take a particular political view, but I try to get across the importance of participating," Booher said.