At Air Academy High School, students register for the following year’s courses each spring. By weighing interests, expectations, and more, the decisions made during this time in February can have a monumental impact on an individuals high school experience. The courses a student takes during high school can be the result of important decisions. It is crucial that students maintain a healthy balance of workload and take into account extracurriculars.

“Ultimately it kind of depends on career goals as well; college goals, all the things, and obviously there’s just different courses depending on interests. Also, balancing classes, like if you want to do all the sports, or have a job, then maybe it would be better either to add a study hall or not to take all of the AP classes,” AAHS counselor Rachel Archer advised.

There is doubt whether students considering taking more rigorous classes are properly informed regarding the expectations of the various course options.

Although the AAHS Course Guide explains the content of classes, it may fall short in explaining their pace or nature. 

“We go into all the classes every year, and during the springtime, I visit the freshmen, Mr. Brotherton does the sophomores, and I think Mrs. Powell and Mrs. Riggs do the juniors. The tricky part is there are so many course offerings that there’s no time to go over every single class,” Archer said. 

Teachers and counselors can also serve invaluable resources for students who would like guidance in their choices.

“That’s why we give you this form like we’re saying, ‘hey, you’re probably interested in this, check out all of these course options.’ If you don’t know what one is, look up the information, and if you have other questions, ask a counselor or a teacher,” Archer continued. 

Often, students feel they are required to take AP classes and drown in extracurricular activities in order to get into college and let these concerns drive their decisions over their actual interests. 

“Adolescents today perceive parents to be more expectant about academic achievement than past generations. They’re shouldering a more rigorous course load, according to transcript studies from the National Center for Education Statistics. And they’re in trouble,” an article on PBS by Gail Cornwall entitled How Today’s High School Students Face High Pressure in a Grind Culture stated.

Many find the timing of the class registration intriguing, as it happens far before the end of the school year in February. This is due to the logistics needed to create schedules for all of the teachers at AAHS.

“It takes a long time, and there’s a whole process. In the fall, teachers submit their requests for what courses they want to teach.Creating the master schedule [where the school tries] to balance out all of the different courses takes forever. This helps our admin team know if they need to work on hiring more teachers if certain subject areas are really popular,” Archer elaborated.

As students choose which classes to sign up for, they will have myriad factors to consider. The system with which students choose courses is based on interest and complicated processes, which the school administration employs to deliver students their optimal course choices.

When choosing courses this year, the student body should pay attention to their resources and appreciate the school administration’s work to allow them to excel.