With the course request window coming to a close, Feb. 15, The Nexus has noticed some areas of potential improvement for next year’s course selection process. Many students, particularly underclassmen, are uninformed about which courses are right for them, and they are missing the student perspective, teacher perspective, and a basic knowledge of what their options are. To ensure that students can make informed decisions in course selections, Westview needs to better educate students about their options.  

One of the greatest areas of misunderstanding for students is the idea that their course plans can–and often do–change, and that there are pathways open to them outside of what they originally assumed. For example, while a student may enter high school thinking Honors and AP English courses aren’t right for them, they might find their passion for English in their English 3-4 class and want to explore options beyond the standard American Literature course for their junior year. Typically, students in honors courses of a certain subject continue on that path of honors courses for that subject throughout their high school careers, and they feel boxed in by the courses they already took. Honors teachers tend to promote taking that subject’s honors course in the next year, and the same with non-honors classes. 

Adding to this issue is the fact that students are often encouraged to craft a four-year plan before they are fully aware of what future options could open up. As important as it is to plan out one’s courses in high school, it’s also important that students are aware that other courses can be substituted for the ones they had planned. 

Additionally, while the course descriptions on the Westview website are rich with information, they are objective and fact-based. While this can be useful, students would benefit from learning from students who have taken the class and teachers who have taught the class. These first-hand accounts are something the online course descriptions can’t offer, but they are crucially important because they give an experiential perspective on what the class is actually like: how much homework there is, what the teachers are like, what unique experiences the class offers, and more. The online course descriptions are often too general to convey a full sense of what the class is really like. Too often, students end up in a class that’s not right for them, and they realize it too late. 

One solution to this problem is for teachers to make sure that their students stay informed about all the different types of courses available for the following year through student-led panels. We understand that it takes time out of otherwise instructional time to talk about these options with students, but this is time well spent. Alternatively, The Nexus suggests holding these panels during Wolverine Time or SSH. Sophomore English teachers, for example, could host a student panel in which a few students from each of the junior English class options answer questions and give their honest feedback about those courses. As opposed to the informational blurbs on the Westview website, these student panels would allow younger students to hear real students’ feedback on all of the course options. 

In past years, the Westview website featured informational podcast-esque recordings regarding the different courses. The few-minute-long audio clips interviewed students and teachers from each class who shared their experiences. While there are currently about 10-minute-long videos, one per grade, shown to students in their grade-specific classes, these videos don’t cover all of the possible courses. Only one science option was covered, and the video just skimmed the surface of available elective courses. The math portion of the video is generalized and doesn’t give specific information on any math course. While the videos cover all of the history and English course offerings for each grade level, they feature only teachers discussing those classes and lack the student perspective. Also, the video is outdated, with some portions having been filmed as long ago as 2017. 

The Nexus encourages the rerecording of the podcast-style audio clips and the reinstatement of them on the website. The best way to ensure students have the opportunity to learn about any course that interests them is for there to be an individual recording for each course so that students can select the ones they want to learn more about. These recordings could offer an opportunity for additional perspectives on each course, and those perspectives can only help students earn the best possible education.