By Milly Fortunak, Annedreih Tangonan, Janessa Nava, Keisha Jasmine De Guzman
Not a lot of people understand how important choosing an elective can be. With the elective fair, students are given the opportunity to decide on an elective that can be the perfect fit for them and how it can benefit them in their future careers.
James Logan High School staff are hosting an Electives Fair on February 1st in the Al Rod gym. It will be their first time organizing this event in hopes that it will give students a better idea of the variety of electives offered at Logan.
Ms. Pierre, the Activities Director at James Logan High School, explains that, “tons of elective courses are going to have tables setup in the Al Rod gym.” In this manner, students can browse around various courses of interest. The set up allows for an easy method of accessing a variety of information within a singular period. In addition, the timing of this event is intentional as it marked the opening of the pre-registration season. At this point in the year, students are encouraged to sign up for their desired classes for the upcoming school year.
We had the opportunity to hear from Ms. Luna as to what she thinks the outcome of the electives fair will be like. “It hasn’t really been done, but it will hopefully be a good opportunity for students to talk to people, mainly other students, and perhaps teachers as well, about those courses.” She hopes that the result of the elective fair will gain students’ attention and persuade them to try something new, hoping they’ll enjoy it. It’s up to the district to decide who will teach these electives to students. There might not be enough space in one class, so the possibility of them needing to find a different teacher to ask to teach that elective can vary. Due to this, many different faces of various ages filled the Al Rod, intrigued to find out what classes are available to take in the upcoming year. Students and teachers led the booths prepared to answer inquiries from interested high schoolers.
Since the event’s organizers were not strict regarding who led the booths when inviting the various elective leaders, it was up to the teachers themselves to decide. Although a handful of teachers were found behind tables aiding interested students, most of the booths were led by the students who had taken the electives themselves. Mr. Lam, the teacher for Tripping, chose for his students to be completely in charge of the booth. “I’d rather have them share their experiences so that students can get more of a peer-to-peer knowledge and understanding.” Through this decision, students who visited his table were able to attain a description rooted in personal involvement as opposed to a basic explanation.
After interviewing students in the school, it was noticeable that only some were enthusiastic about this Elective Fair. A student was asked how they felt about the upcoming Electives fair, in hopes it would be fascinating. “I mean I don’t know. I was gonna like, wander around and see if maybe there’s something I missed during the open house,” said Laila, a student at James Logan High School. Students had this vision that it was not that big of a deal and was just a normal passing day.
When the Electives Fair was ongoing in James Logan’s gymnasium, a swarm of students showed up. Everybody was quite entertained and each stall had its own unique displays. Following up with the students who were interviewed: “Yes! It was good. There were a lot of booths, and I learned a lot about the electives that James Logan has to offer.” From the looks of it, it seems like enthusiasm wasn’t so out of the frame anymore. “I’m looking forward to joining Psychology next year. Their booth was really nice and I found Ms. Diaz really fun.” At the end of the day, the electives fair served its purpose with flying colors.
We were able to get a chance with a Junior who’s taking an ROP course as their elective. The student is currently taking Medical Occupations, a class that offers a hands-on experience that can benefit students who want to go into a medical or science-related field. The class offers students the opportunity to intern during their second semester, something that looks upstanding when applying to colleges. They were able to state how beneficial the class is if given the opportunity to take it. “If you think you can work through the class, you should definitely.” Not only can it benefit college applications, but it’s also a good class that allows students to gain new experiences and learn new things, like how to take a person’s vitals.
When constructing the plan for this Elective Fair, Ms. Pierre and Ms. Luna were worried about students’ lack of awareness of available electives. Therefore, they had high ambitions for this event as they wanted to make an impact on the students who can benefit, such as Freshmen new to the school. “We figure an in person interactive advertisement of our courses will hopefully promote enrollment in certain electives.” This club fair successfully allowed students the opportunity to explore various fields of interest for the upcoming school year. The colorful personalities of each presenter allowed for students to feel engaged and connect with potential future classmates. As this elective fair has been successful, hopefully, it will become an integral event to provide students this great learning resource.
