On Jan. 16, Jefferson students explored the classes offered at Jefferson through the annual Curriculum Fair during A and B blocks of 8th period. This gave students the opportunity to speak directly with teachers, compare classes and began shaping their future path for upcoming course selections.
“I want to emphasize the value of the course, what kind of career path that it leads to and the fun and enjoyment of the course,” statistics teacher Catherine Scott said.
Throughout the fair, teachers used slideshows to show the level of difficulty and course overviews to help students understand what their class involves. This fair also offered students the opportunity to ask teachers questions about the course. Students also got to feel the atmosphere of each class by seeing how teachers presented their material.
“We came up with the slides by talking to former students and teachers about what texts are taught, what they enjoy as students and the differences between the courses,” Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. Government and AP Psychology teacher Ashley Craft said. “I would tell [students] to think about what they enjoy reading and how they enjoy learning.”
During A and B blocks, students moved between classrooms, gathering information about electives in science, technology and the humanities. Students were capable of exploring new subjects they had not considered before by using the fair to clarify their interests.
“I want to get to know all [of] the different classes and also the teachers that would be teaching them,” sophomore Dors Matoizzad said.
In the end, teachers encouraged students to choose courses that students were genuinely interested in, rather than following what their peers chose.
“We tell students to pick beyond what they think their friends are going to take so that they can really enjoy learning in the course outside of just having friends in the course,” Craft said.