The last few months of the school year are here, which means it’s time to start thinking about what classes to take next year. Dee-Mack has an extensive list of available classes that fit different interests and different requirements. The considerable combinations of classes that can be taken over the four years of high school allow for a great mix of fun and interesting educational courses.
Deciding what classes to take next year can be a difficult process, though. You have to take required classes into account, do the math on how many credits you need, and possibly even think ahead to the year after to see what classes you would have to take in order to take an interesting class down the line. Fortunately, some of the Seniors have given some of their favorite classes that they have taken. So if you are wondering what to do and you are eligible, consider these classes. Perhaps some will fit your interest and some won’t, but it’s always worth considering.
- Intro to Metals and Woods
- “Mr. Miller is a wonderful teacher who is passionate about what he does, and the shop classes give you useful life skills for hands-on working.”
- Contemporary Issues
- “You get to explore your own interests with minimal guidelines. The topics aren’t assigned to you, so the class can always be about something you are interested in.”
- Computer Science
- “You go at your own pace, and it is great for learning to code.”
- Psychology
- “Mr. V is a fun teacher who made the class interesting.”
- Journalism 🙂
- “It’s interactive and fun, and it gives us an opportunity to further educate our peers. (Ms. Hammond please put my grade up now…)
- Creative Writing
- “It’s all about your freedom as a writer, and you can take it wherever you want it to go. You can write a short story, a song, a poem, a comic, or whatever else you want.”
- Geography
- “It has a good teaching style and it’s divided up really well in a way that I can learn
Next year, there are also going to be some new classes and course structures that will be implemented. These include Sports & Entertainment Marketing, Guitar Methods, and a restructure to the Art courses, making them Intro to Visual Art, Intermediate Art, Advanced Art, Portfolio Art, and a year-long Digital Art class. Each of these classes has their own specialty that makes them unique and fun.
Speaking about the new art courses, Mr. Ingram stated,
“Students in the advanced class should expect to have choices over the media they work in and a lot of freedom over the style of their projects. I plan to make the advanced class menu based with the current advanced level projects all on the menu. The intermediate class will be somewhat similar but there is less to condense since the intermediate 2D and 3D studio classes are each a semester anyway. I hope that the experience will be more enjoyable than a separate 2D & 3D class as some students were never able to fit the one they preferred in their schedule. The digital art class will pull from a lot of the graphic design projects from intermediate digital art and the Photography class as we may have a new class focused on video production.”
Mr. Hill gave an overview of Sports & Entertainment Marketing, saying,
“Sports and Entertainment Marketing will focus primarily on marketing our sports and events around the school. Students will learn things like social media marketing, event promotion, and event management. There will be content creation and live event production included as well. Previous experience in content creation or social media would obviously be beneficial, but would not be necessary. Students will be required to work school events throughout the year as part of the requirements of the class.”
Introducing his new Guitar Methods class, Mr. Klima said,
“This class is perfect for people who have no experience, but also will be great for people who might have been playing for years! We will learn strumming styles, reading music, play different genres, and also how to take care of the instrument. You don’t even need to bring your own instrument, we will provide them! There will also be opportunities for performances regionally through ILMEA (state music organization). All are welcome to boost their skills and learn the guitar!”
Whatever you decide to do next year, there will always be at least one great class that will be the highlight of your year. It doesn’t matter if it’s Math, Science, English, Shop, Art, Business, etc. There is always something for everyone. Next year is still a little ways away, but the deadlines for registration sheets are not.
- Juniors’ sheets are due Friday, Jan. 31.
- Sophomores’ sheets are due Friday, Feb. 7.
- Freshmen’s sheets are due Thursday, Feb. 13.
And Seniors, in your first year of not having to fill out one of those for high school, be sure to encourage the younger students to take classes that you really enjoyed! You never know how much you’ll like something until you try it.
