School isn’t always the most entertaining place to be. It can get boring studying for test after test. But apart from the core classes you’re required to take throughout high school, everyone gets to choose several elective classes. While there are graduation requirements to adhere to, for the most part, the elective classes you take are up to you. That might not seem like anything revolutionary, but here at Tualatin, we have a unique variety of electives to choose from.
Elective classes can be a lot of fun, exploring many interesting topics. Different schools offer various selections of electives. It mostly depends on the school’s budget. Lakeridge High School, for example, offers a poetry elective, a philharmonic/symphony orchestra elective and many different career and technical education electives noted in their academic planning guide. Some high schools in the state offer relatively fewer electives.
Tigard High School, like Tualatin, has an exciting forensics class.
“I really like the teacher and that it’s really interactive and fun. We’ve done crime scene analysis and research projects on serial killers,” said Elysia Sepp, a sophomore at Tigard.
Tualatin doesn’t have quite as many electives as schools such as Lakeridge do, but we have a balanced and engaging variety. Our forensics class is just one of a long list. Tualatin offers a series of culinary arts classes, band and orchestra, theater, app & web design, construction, accounting and marketing, astronomy, marine biology, creative writing, child development and many others. We also teach both French and Spanish, with our world language classes going up to the International Baccalaureate (IB) level at year four.
Leading these fantastic electives are teachers passionate about their subjects. Among them is Mackenzie McGee. McGee explained her favorite part of teaching child development.
“It’s not a core class. I get to see students in a different light. I get to see students who have a desire to work with kids for an elective. It is often a bright spot in students’ days,” she said.
We are very fortunate to have the number of electives that we do and classes taught by teachers who care deeply. A shortage in school funding is a difficult problem the state is currently navigating. Oregon Public Broadcasting has reported on elective courses being cut when there are budget shortfalls.
Regardless, there are still so many electives to choose from every year during course selection. These classes make school an engaging place for students and make our education paths unique.
