By Michelle Hernandez and Julie DeFrancia

It’s almost the end of the school year, and the once empty hallway accompanying the main office is lined with white folding chairs. Classes come in, one by one, to choose their classes for yet another school year. 

We all remember those times when we were waiting in the hall waiting for our counselors to call our name to pick our classes for the next year. There is a thrilling feeling when the names draw closer to yours alphabetically before you can walk into your counselors office to tell them the plan for next year. 

Many of the classes are mandatory to take, some at different levels, but the most exciting ones to choose are always the electives. There are so many different types of electives offered by Granada Hills Charter (GHC) ranging from culinary, ceramics, automotive, drama, and many more. Our dedicated counselors put in the elective requests of thousands of eager students.

GHC offers over 40 different electives, some being more popular than others. Counselors often advise students to have backups in case they don’t get into certain electives due to their popularity. 

According to our counselors, the most commonly chosen electives tend to be ceramics and culinary. However, there has been a surge in students taking the automotive class. 

“Ceramics and culinary arts are two of the most popular electives, and they always have been,” counselor Mea Tahi said. “We’ve even increased the number of ceramics classes that we have, as well as auto tech, to accommodate for the amount of students seeking those electives.” 

Not only are courses like ceramics, culinary, and autotech great opportunities to learn something new, but they also offer a unique hands-on course in a schedule of traditional classes.

Oftentimes during the school day, you’ll see the ceramics students walking around with their festive mugs, or the smell of the culinary room escaping into the rest of the school making you wish you took this class. 

Elective classes are integrated into GHC’s curriculum to benefit students in many ways. These courses can help students find a career that builds upon their core academic knowledge, as well as allowing them to follow their passions 

“I think the elective of your choice should help you learn a different, maybe unfamiliar form of knowledge,” senior Mackenzie Penner said. “I’m taking ceramics, and I did so because I really enjoy the arts, and I love seeing how my projects turn out. I wanted to have a source of inspiration throughout the day to take a break from my busy schedule.” 

Another reason for the large number of students deciding to take these classes is “senior priority.” When juniors are choosing their senior year classes, they are sent to the top of the list for the electives they anticipate due to seniority. This is why there is usually a greater amount of seniors walking around with ceramic pieces or cooked meals than other grades combined. 

GHC is a rigorous school, and as students we’re lucky to be offered classes that can make us forget about that math test you took the period before. When walking into classes like culinary, the energy is always high and students look like they are having a good time at school. For the students, it’s nice to have a change of pace from all the challenging work.

But if you get the chance to be in any elective, no matter what that is, you should take it. Have fun once in a while, after all, we are just kids.