From the Film Academy to drawing, we see many activities loved by students who explore their creativity in arts. While these interactive activities interest our students, many would like more electives. I asked students what electives they had yet to see in high school and would want to partake in if made available. 

Demetri Gilbert, a fellow freshman, said, “Flight and Space… [you are] just learning about physics around things that could fly and [do] fun projects.”

Flight and Space was a class Demetri experienced in middle school, and he had lots of fun taking the course. Some can argue that this elective is similar to robotics and engineering classes. Still, it can explore the history behind space travel and future possibilities for aircraft. An elective like this could create new field trips to museums based on air and space travel and another class for seniors to take as a one-year course to have fun and learn.

Teachers also have an opinion on what electives they believe our school lacks this year. 

Biology teacher Mr.Jeffrey Bell said, “If there were classes on cool life skills like making a budget…something where kids can learn something practical, I think that would be cool.”

Having electives like driver’s ed or a class similar to home economics would be helpful for students. Electives like this can be applied to real-world skills while still making it a fun, exciting class for students to attend. Courses like these are not as standard as they used to be, but the information they provide students is still valuable.

While getting enjoyable electives and opportunities is excellent, reflecting on and changing old electives is essential to make them entertaining and challenging for students. Students would like to see more involvement with the assignments given in their elective courses to make their classes better. Some art classes are fun and interactive, but others can feel like a set course that only sometimes shows each student’s full potential. Clubs are a great example of how electives can become more reliant on student participation.

In clubs, a primarily student-run activity, students like having more flexibility and control over what they do. In the Dungeons and Dragons Club and Culinary Club, students influence what gets done and happens at meetings. In electives, students should have room for creativity, like being able to choose their next project in art or what they build next in a class like ceramics. Having more choices makes students feel more passionate about the project they are working on, knowing that they have to choose it.

Electives need more student involvement than just a set of lessons from the teacher; more student interactivity and project choices should be worked on in Quartz Hill High School electives. More electives should be revamped for upcoming school years. Classes like robotics need lessons to familiarize the students with later project programs. However, having a more extensive selection of activities would be welcomed at Quartz Hill High School.