At Jefferson high school there are a variety of classes offered! However, with the sheer quantity of the classes at Jefferson, some classes tend to be overlooked. Classes such as Web Design, Teacher Pathway, Indigenous Studies of the Oceti Sakowin, and Newspaper / Yearbook. Newspaper being on this list is definitely just my promoting the class. There are many other classes offered at JHS that are overlooked, but the following is a short list of classes that are especially overlooked.
Starting off with a particularly unnoticed class, Indigenous Studies of the Oceti Sakowin is a social studies elective class, one semester long and open to grades 10 and up. Students who take this class can expect to learn about the indigenous people prior to European contact up to the present day. Students also explore the land, spirituality, and the experiences of the Oceti Sakowin people. The class counts towards your social studies electives! In an interview, Anissa, a student who took the class said, “The class is very respectful of the culture and getting to learn about the spiritual culture of our ancestors was very interesting. This class is great for people who want to learn about the Oceti people, especially because in South Dakota many native american people live here and it’s great to see people be interested and really respectful to their culture”. It would be awesome to see more students take a class like this! There are no prerequisites needed and it is open to grades 10 and up.
Following that, Web Design taught by Mr. Cutshaw, is a project-based class where students are taught how to use programs such as photoshop and creating a website. I personally know a couple students here at Jefferson who have taken the class during the first semester. Adelyn in an interview explained, “My favorite aspect of Web Design was being able to be creative through photoshop and being able to make your own website, if you want a nice relaxing class and you like computers and technology id recommend taking Web Design”. Web Design has no prerequisites and is open to everyone at Jefferson. The class can count towards your electives, so if you’re looking to get your electives done and you enjoy technology, I’d definitely recommend getting this class into your schedule in the upcoming 25-26 school year!
Next up is a class that I’ve definitely thought about taking, Teacher Pathway I and II is a dual credit class for students looking to go into a field of teaching. Students get to leave school once a week to visit and explore classrooms. Many students who take this class can expect to learn their own way of educating students and understand how a learning environment works from an educator’s point of view. Both courses are a semester long and have no prerequisites, this class is open to grades 11-12. They also fulfill the english elective requirements!
Last but certainly not least, Newspaper is the final class that is highly overlooked. As of this year, it didn’t qualify to be its own class and has been run this year on students’ volunteering to be part of the team. This year there are only 4-5 students on our staff. We’ve relied heavily on guest writers and have had to work around everyone’s busy schedules to get stories out. The good news is that next year Newspaper is planned to be a class! This is a full year class and can also count as an English elective. The prerequisites are to have had a C or higher in journalism, but if you have photo I that’s a great add on, as we love including pictures that are attached to these stories!
In conclusion, all these classes are great to take and contribute to graduation. While the registration period has already passed, you can still adjust your schedule at the beginning of the school year or during Cavalier Day when you get your schedule. We look forward to seeing these classes grow in size and how these classes develop if they have a larger number of students interested in taking them!