By contributing writers Damian Petrosillo (’27) and Gianna Alicea (’27)
Are you thinking about what electives to take next year? Here are some recommendations from students at Jamesville-Dewitt High School. J-DHS offers over 100 electives in all of the different departments like science, language arts, math, social studies, and the arts.
The science department offers several options, for example forensics, SUPA forensics, astronomy, and anatomy and physiology. “I loved Anatomy. It’s helping me in my BOCES program to be a nurse,” said senior Jeada Robinson. ”If you’re not going to be a scientist or astrologist or in the medical field or really anything in the Science department you don’t really need to be in any of the electives but it’s an amazing experience,” said biology teacher Nancy Raicht.
Social studies electives are other good options to take. SUPA Psychology is a class traught in conjunction with Syracuse University that can give students three college credits. “I thought sports psychology helps because as an athlete I liked knowing what was happening with my mental health and other interesting facts about the brain of athletes,” said sophomore Jules Stickle. “SUPA is a great class. Mr. Berger is a great teacher and he makes the class so fun,” said senior Lyla Commandeur. “It is a hard class to take, but everyone can learn from it,” said Commandeur. Another popular elective in the social studies department is current events. “Current events just keeps me updated and it was an amazing class, super fun and not a lot of work that you really have to do,” said junior Keegan Muller.
In the English department they offer many different electives but the most popular ones were journalism, corporate communications and public speaking. Many upperclassmen said that public speaking was very useful and helpful because it made it easier to talk in front of bigger crowds. Biology teacher Parker Noble said, “I advise that everyone takes public speaking. It is a very good class to take to advance and overcome your fears of talking in front of big groups of people.” “I would definitely take journalism. It has helped me become a better writer and taught me how to write different types of styles of stories.” said sophomore Juliana Walker.
In the art department at J-DHS, they offer many different types of art and technology classes like DDP, ceramics, studio art, and photography. There is a good variety that allows students to take classes that aren’t necessarily drawing and painting. For example, DDP is more of a building and engineering class which is good if that is something you are interested in. “I took DDP and it was hands-on making a bottle rocket and other cool inventions,”said junior Daniel Kresge. Another type of art is ceramics. It’s a hands-on class that works with clay and its very free range, with students having a lot of liberty to create what they want. Ceramics teacher Mark McIntyre said, “Ceramics is a great class to take if you wanna boost your average and need to finish your art credit.”
The math department has very few electives compared to the other departments, with J-DHS offering statistics, AP statistics, and various computer science options. These math electives are very nice if a student is considering a career that might involve math. “I took computer science because it’s related to engineering and that’s what I want to do in my future. It was a very good class for me,” sophomore Brayden Brown said.
The wide range of electives at J-DHS can feel a little daunting to choose from. Hopefully though, hearing what other students think made those decisions just a little bit easier.
