As the scheduling season for next year at Wayne Hills High School approaches, many students begin to be asked the same, recurring question; “So what classes are you taking next year?”
Aside from the core classes every student must take (English, History, Science, and Math), Wayne Hills offers many electives for students to take. These classes range from foods to automotive to psychology. For incoming students, electives seem like a great opportunity for students to learn something new and interesting that wouldn’t be taught in your core classes. However, as the years go by, I find it harder to pick an elective each year due to binding graduation requirements and inconsistencies between the classes offered in the two Wayne high schools.
I do think that electives are a great way for kids who don’t have a set career in mind to branch out and participate in a variety of classes that may be possible career contenders. However, for kids, like me, who have a good idea of what they want to do in college, it can be hard to pick electives. Graduation requirements state that students must take a visual, humanity, consumer/lifestyle, and 1/2 year finance elective over the course of 4 years. Personally, I feel that these requirements cause kids to get caught up in fulfilling requirements rather than experimenting with different electives that could fit one’s desired career. Junior Deanna Asmar agreed with me, as she said, “There needs to be more options and I think the graduation requirements are pushing it since kids should be able to take what they want.”
On top of that, Wayne Valley offers additional classes, such as Fashion Design, and has different requirements to get into certain elective classes. The differences in the electives at each high school create an unfair disadvantage for students. Lucia Nesbitt, junior, also added, “I think it is unfair that Valley has different electives. If someone wants to be a fashion major they should be able to explore classes that fit their interests. Both schools should do the same things.”
While I do think there is problems with the electives and choosing new ones each year, while keeping graduation requirements in mind, there are definitely some pros. Matian Banusi, a junior, shared “I think electives are a great opportunity for kids to explore their interests and find possible careers.” I do think that there are many opportunities, and the graduation requirements can help kids find a steady path to explore a variety of career choices. Additionally, electives can allow kids to find fun hobbies, even if the class doesn’t specifically align with one’s chosen career path.
There are definitely pros and cons to the current elective system at Wayne Hills High School. It mostly just depends on whether you know what you want to do in college or if you still want to explore possible options. For people who have a career set in mind, it can be difficult to find electives that match their interests while still fitting into graduation requirements. However, I can understand the benefits of being how the requirements encourage kids to explore different options, as one can find different activities that they could make a possible career out of.
