As most of us have completed our course selection for next year, the gears have started to shift towards next school year and what classes we want to take. Most of us are familiar with the common core classes: math, science, history and English, but The Wolf has organized a list of several underrated classes here at Tualatin High School (TuHS) that students might want to consider for next year. 

• Marine Biology – If you’re looking for a half-credit science course that is fun and entertaining, marine bio is for you. This course is eye-opening and interesting as it covers all areas of marine life from inhumanness to marine life to dissecting squids. 

Ella Plahn, junior: “Marine Bio has one of the funniest teachers and has a lot of experiments that make the class super fun.”

• Child Development – This class is a year-long course available to sophomores, juniors and seniors. If you love interacting and helping kids learn, this class is perfect for you. Every other class, students are in the Tiny Timberwolves Preschool, working with 4-5 year olds. On the other days, you will be learning about the mental and physical development of kids and why they act the way they do. 

Lily Story, junior: “I enjoy the environment and also working with preschoolers!”

• Human Body Systems – If you’re interested in potentially going into the medical field, we would highly recommend this class. Not only can you get your Health 2 credit, but you learn about the human body and its systems in a fun and creative way. Students make 3D models of bone structures and dissect different animals. Also, taking this course opens more opportunities for other electives in the future, such as Medical Career Explorations and Sports Medicine. 

Tegan Anderson, junior: “As a human, it’s good to know how your body works. You get to do interactive activities with classmates. You get to build muscles from clay on a small-scale skeleton. You move through the units, which are the different body systems. My favorite was the skeletal or muscle unit. I’ve been interested in the medical field for awhile, so I had to take medical career exploration one (MCE1). I loved taking the first semester of MCE1. Medical professionals come in to talk about their careers and education. You also get to learn professional skills, like how to take blood pressure and using a gait belt. It is really informational and a great option to future healthcare professionals or anyone who’s interested.”

1. IB Film – This IB course allows students’ creative juices to flow and gets them thinking while still having a fun time. IB Film helps students understand film as a complex art form and discover new perspectives and details from films they may have never noticed before.

Lydia Magnuson, senior: “I took IB Film to get a visual art credit, but it turned into one of my favorite classes. IB Film is unlike any class I’ve taken at the high school so far. The class is very self-directed, but always so supportive and helpful. We have watched and analyzed multiple movies this year, some of which are newer and some old classics. We use what we learn from the films for our own projects, and practice creating our own films! Overall, I would totally recommend this as an IB class, visual arts credit, or just a fun elective to anyone doing course selection!”

• Newspaper – This year-long elective allows those who join to use their creativity and writing skills to express their opinions and personality to the school and community. The environment in the class is very supportive and inclusive. Each issue, the staff comes together to write for certain sections of the paper, as well as provide positives and critiques to make the upcoming newspaper issues the best they can be.

Ethan Glick, senior: “I like the sense of community that it brings; I like everyone in the class. I like the grading system and I like how it feels less like a class and more like a job. It’s more of an adult thing to be doing in school.”

This is just a limited list of some of the amazing elective choices that TuHS has to offer. Make sure to contact your counselor if you have any questions or concerns regarding classes to take next year or what would be the best option for you, or the potential career path you want to take.