In the years leading up to college, teens have to somehow find what makes them happy, what they enjoy, and what they want to study. High school is missing this opportunity. Sure, there are students that will fall in love with biology, or algebra, or English, but this leaves another vast group of kids who are left to discover what they’re good at or interested in on their own. There isn’t anything particularly wrong with this, but including these classes would kill two birds with one stone– fulfilling the credits and offering a chance for students to learn more about what they like.

Traditional high schools should offer more specialized classes for students to discover passions and trades that they might be interested in. If these classes were offered to students, they’d stand a chance of going to college with a more focused idea of what they may want to do in their future.

Woodworking and personal finance classes are commonplace in most high schools, but other options are limited. Cooking classes, textiles, astronomy, life skills’ these are classes that can teach valuable skills for students to use and offer an alternative for students to fill credits that they may not exactly be enthusiastic about completing. A more varied set of class choices also prevents classes from getting overcrowded and makes sure that the right kids are in the right classes.

Electives like gym and health, while fulfilling a credit, don’t always offer the best learning experience to students. Alternative classes would be able to provide students with opportunities to learn material they find more interesting, thus creating happier students and staff. The introduction of these classes would prove beneficial to nearly everyone and serve as wonderful student preparation for the future.