by: Kat Littfin
Editorial Editor

Los Gatos High School offers a plethora of electives for students to choose from throughout their high school career. Popular choices include advanced academic courses, particularly Advanced Placement (AP) classes. However, certain undervalued elective options offer students a reprieve from an onslaught of AP classes, teach them valuable traits, and allow them to delve more deeply into their passions. The school administration and student body should encourage the enrollment of more niche courses to allow students to explore their interests and build life skills.

While academic courses are the norm, LGHS offers several electives including drawing, painting, ceramics, multimedia, digital photography, fashion design, graphic design, manufacturing technology, business, drama, leadership, and journalism, all of which teach essential traits that extend far beyond the classroom. Senior Sarah Jacobson decided to take Clothing/Fashion Design because she was intrigued by 3D art and fashion, and she has gained much from this experience, explaining, “I feel like sewing has…taught me to be more patient. I want to be a nurse, and patience is a skill I’m definitely going to need.” While certainly not a STEM class, classes like Fashion can play a pivotal role in developing traits that students can use in other facets of their lives.

Many academic, non-AP courses often lack student sign-ups due to the constant pressure to build a college resume. Still, non-advanced electives provide students with less stressful opportunities to learn more about topics they are curious about. One course that has not yet been instituted as an option is Astronomy. The class would have elements of physics and earth science at a non-AP level. Physics teachers have polled students in Chemistry and Physics classes over the past two years, and a quarter of students have shown interest in enrolling. However, administrators worry that adding the class will create an imbalance of STEM electives. Despite this view, the already existing STEM electives are mostly AP classes, whereas Astronomy would offer an option for students drawn to physical sciences without the added stress of another AP course.

A formerly popular non-STEM elective was Creative Writing which Kristen Austin created and formerly taught. Unfortunately, a lack of student enthusiasm after the pandemic caused the course to phase out as an option. Austin described that before the pandemic, the class was a uniting and constructive environment where both non-academic and academic students eagerly collaborated. However, over the past few years, Austin noticed that fewer students signed up for the class and, to her dismay, began depending on AI’s “creativity” instead of their own. Classes like Creative Writing offer students an environment to develop their artistic abilities and connect with students with whom they may not otherwise work, but students must learn to make use of these opportunities when they are available instead of taking them for granted.

While there are some things the administration can do to broaden the elective choices students have, the responsibility ultimately falls on students to take the initiative to enroll in classes they are interested in. As Elective Department Chair Emily Christie pointed out, “”If students want to maintain their diverse elective options, they have to sign up for them. We build the schedule around students’ requests. Students should consider choosing an elective that sounds fun and challenging to them, not just one that will potentially boost their GPA.” In a community where so many students try to collect as many AP classes as possible, stand out by taking an elective that actually interests you, and that will help you build skills you will utilize throughout your lifetime.