The hidden electives of Kearsley High School

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The Hidden Electives of KHS

Here at KHS, we have a large range of electives to offer to students who want to express themselves and learn new skills.

Students seem to love fun, short-term electives such as Criminology, Draw and Paint, and Creative Writing.

Lots of students also enjoy full-year classes like Physics, French, and Spanish.

Other students also take part in full-time commitment electives like Band, Choir and Yearbook.

So… what classes get swept under the rug?

The class Desktop Publishing comes to some students mind when they think of classes that go unnoticed by the majority.

Desktop Publishing is a half-semester class where students create publications to be graded.

The class is light-work and easy, which is perfect for students who don’t know which route to go when choosing their next elective.

Sophomore, Vick Burcar is one the students who believes Desktop Publishing lingers in the background.

“I’ve never heard of Desktop Publishing until this year, I wish I knew more about it before because it seems like an interesting class,” said Burcar.

If you were wanting to join this class next year, you are too late.

Unfortunately, Desktop Publishing is being eliminated from the curriculum next year along with Keyboarding.

These classes are being replaced with a coding class.

Another class that seemed to slip through the cracks was our online GenNet classes.

GenNet courses are selective, interactive online classrooms where they are able to interact with the instructor and other students across the country.

Here at KHS we offer GenNet classes like American Sign Language, AP Environmental Science, Holocaust Studies and Black History, and AP Biology.

Senior Chianne Miles has vaguely heard of GenNet before, but  was still surprised by some things about the classes.

“I thought GenNet was only ASL, but I heard other kids talking about different classes for GenNet,” stated Miles.

GenNet courses are best fit for students who are interested in unique subjects that our normal electives don’t offer.

Senior Odin Heystek is a student of GenNet’s ASL program.

Heystek explained why they chose to take ASL.

“[I chose this] because I have deaf family members and I like that there was an option for an ASL class even if it was online,” said Heystek.

With GenNet classes taking place online, there is bound to be minor problems that normal classes don’t have.

“We have internet issues and the TV doesn’t work sometimes,” explained Odin.

If you are interested in taking a GenNet class next year, applications can be found in the counseling office.

Another class that took students by surprise is the home of The Eclipse, Journalism class.

In Journalism, students write for the school newspaper: The Eclipse.

This class is best fit for students who are responsible, self-motivated, and are able to meet deadlines.

Senior Thomas Brewer-Brown spoke about students lack of knowledge of the class.

“Not many people know how to get into the class and I think it’s really interesting how they do so much behind the scenes and write many articles about our students and their lives,” stated Brewer-Brown.

Kit Ramirez is a senior and a reporter for The Eclipse.

Ramirez explained that they liked the creative freedom of Journalism

“I can make articles about anything as long as I can connect it back to Kearsley,” said Ramirez. “It’s more selective than other classes, so you can make friends and have parties.”

If you are interested in Journalism, applications can be found in the counselors office.

If you didn’t know about any of these classes or just wanted to learn more about Kearsley’s curriculum, you can visit the Kearsley Community School’s website and look at the KHS scheduling handbook.