At Grayslake Central High School, there are new classes each year available for students to take, such as Music Production and even courses that provide college credit. Crafting ideas for new classes and deciding which ones run is a process that requires student input every year. Many students at Central envision classes that could run in the future, based on their interests and observations of the school’s current offerings. “I actually think there needs to be more social classes,” Mel Baker, a junior at Central said. Social classes could help to improve life skills of students and help to get students more prepared for the future. Baker also empathizes with the fact that we could use more artistic classes. “I think art could also be good because it’s not a specific way of doing things.”
The subjective aspect of artistic classes could be seen as appealing to students. Senior Logan Dimitriou thought more art classes could be a good idea, saying “I think maybe some more art classes.” Art classes are different from the traditional school class. They grant more freedom to the student to do what comes creatively to them. You learn techniques and strategies to make what helps you create your own art. Another area that students felt could use more offerings is technology. Antonio Ruelas, a sophomore at GCHS said “like me personally, I would like more technological classes, like with computers and stuff.”
The need for tech-savvy employees increases every year, taking on a bigger role in society, so having that available to students could offer up significant opportunities. “Maybe something more technology wise,” Dimitriou also suggested. Currently, GCHS offers a few technology classes, such as Exploring Technology Communication and Graphic Arts Production.
However, some students think we as a school could offer more, or more of a variety. Thinking of new classes is simple enough, but what is the actual process of getting a new class to run? According to Lori Mitchell, the Counseling Department Chair
at Grayslake Central, if a class doesn’t have enough student interest, it may not run. Some classes have to run according to Mitchell. “English, math, science, like those things always run because of their graduation requirements.”
Electives are also included in the current graduation requirements as well. For
example, you need a certain amount of fine and applied arts credits to graduate. There are currently 28 options for students to receive a fine art credit at Central. Some classes will always run well because it is seen as necessary to a school, even if they have a smaller student population. “A school has to have a newspaper [class], a school has to have a yearbook [class],” said Mitchell.
While there are lots of ideas for new classes a GCHS, it is important to remember that it is very hard to create a working schedule to run a successful class. You need someone who is willing to teach the class, students who will sign up for it, and it has to be relevant to the curriculum. It is very important to make sure students are wanting to learn about the things we have classes of already, which is why student input is key when crafting a class.
