What makes each elective beneficial?

 Graphic showcasing various electives (Alexa Rios, The Puma Prensa)

Written By: Wyett Pinney, website editor

Each elective course offers unique experiences, opportunities, and skills. But what makes each one of them great.?

Maria Carrillo High School offers many electives, including ones where students can learn different instruments and perform with them at concerts. These classes exist for every level; like how Concert band is available to every grade, and not as dependent on skill or talent, and doesn’t require an audition. More classes include a Symphonic Band, Orchestra, and two different levels of Jazz band. On top of this, Wind Ensemble exists for brass and wind Instruments, and Mariachi–unlike the other band courses–also acts as an Ethnic Studies course..

All of these classes give a Visual and Performing Arts or VAPA credit, and although among them Jazz Band is the most demanding, all of them are instruments so you get out of it as much effort as you put in. Learning an instrument can help in brain development, and can also help students grow accustomed to performing in front of large crowds and having pressure put on students to succeed from their peers.

Learning the ins and outs of instruments and music theory isn’t the only musically inclined course offered, however. There are a host of choir classes, such as Capella and Bass Choir, neither of which require an audition and depend on the pitch of your voice. There are higher levels as well, with Chamber singers and Jazz Choirs. Both require auditions and involve more community performances than the formerly mentioned classes. All of the music courses work to increase confidence in front of people and count for at least one VAPA credit.

A third course that does community performances is the Theater course, in which students can participate both on stage and behind the scenes to make the school great Theater productions. These classes don’t need to be intensive both inside and outside class, but can be depending on the level of participation, and can create confidence in speaking in front of a crowd. These classes can also offer hands-on experience with working on creative projects with a team.

There are also various classes offering dance opportunities. Dance 1 counts as an Ethnic Studies credit, and could count as either an additional PE or VAPA credit. The rest of the Dance courses escalate to needing a recommendation, then an audition. Overall, Dance 1 is one of the best picks for fulfilling multiple credits at once and has minimal work outside of class.

Another possible art credit can come from the Art, Ceramics, and Commercial Design classes. These courses boast little homework–with the exception being higher levels of these courses, like AP art–and can give students a great creative outlet. They can also cultivate creative problem-solving skills. Overall, they are good choices if you either enjoy the arts or need a class that doesn’t give much homework.

Culinary courses are also available and are arguably the most practical classes on campus. They teach important kitchen skills, like how to cook and clean, and students can leave class to take interviews and explore the many options that exist in the service industry.  

Two of the best elective choices for any athlete are Sports Medicine and the follow-up Athletic Training class. These two classes count only for elective credit but teach students how to wrap injuries and other practical anatomy knowledge. They also have minimal homework, leaving time for other classes outside of school.

The last elective is Journalism, where students produce The Puma Prensa. This class helps create a strong team environment, and has a relatively low workload, with homework mostly consisting of writing an article once every couple of weeks. It also leaves room for creativity in every category and allows for writers to write about the most reasonable ideas that interest them.

Another thing to recognize in elective choices is that staying with an elective for multiple years can look good on college applications, so any of these will work in that regard. An Elective choice is dependent on one's proclivities, this is only meant to help in making a firm decision based on what makes each of them spectacular.