8th Grade Visits Promote Electives

Representatives from each of the electives offered to freshman will join counselors in presenting freshman course options to next year’s incoming students at Joaquin Moraga Middle School on January 30 and at Stanley Intermediate on January 31.

According to head counselor Jenna Wrobel, the incoming freshman will be split into two groups. One will attend assembly about the electives and the other will go into rooms to meet their counselors and learn about the counselor’s role in guiding them through high school.

In the assembly, principal John Walker will formally introduce Campolindo and the elective representatives will showcase their courses.

Drama representative Emily Halsebo said her elective will do improv at the middle schools. “The partner that I am going with and I are going to try to show them how fun and random drama is and that you can basically be whoever you want and you will be accepted in drama,” said Halsebo.

“We are going to be showing samples of students’ work and talking about of some of the projects we do. We talk about the college credit that is now available for the advanced class and the articulation with the community colleges that we have so they can get three units of credit that they can take to any college in our advanced class. We will tell them about the three levels, Photo 1, Advanced photo and AP Photo,” digital design and photo teacher Collette Sweeney said. “The students that are there to represent our classes will have a lot of enthusiasm and they will be more than able to demonstrate that,” she added.

“I think it is good and I think kids get excited when they see stuff that resonates with them in the elective showcase,” said counselor Jake Donohoe.

All 4 of the counselors will be going to Joaquin Moraga and 2 will be going to Stanley Intermediate. According to Donohoe, the counselors teach the students about the registration process, graduation requirements, and basic information about high school, like as athletics and clubs.

“I think it helps to have that in combination with the individual appointments with the families,” said counselor Donohoe.

Sweeney is looking forward to the showcase and believes it is very beneficial to the electives and for the students for them to see their options. “I really just want the students at the middle school to look at what is available. It is wise for the students to begin to think about high school and to see what they can look forward to in terms of what they are most interested in. It is important for students to think ahead of time on how they want to spend their time and what electives they choose is important,” she said.

According to Halsebo, the assembly really helps the students consider each elective. “It shows them that drama is really fun. They may have judged what drama is like but this gives the an insight to what it is really like,” said Halsebo.

Counselor Karen Friensen coordinated the visits with the middle schools and believes that it is helpful to the incoming students. “I think it is a great way for the students to figure out which elective they want to do,” said Friesen.

Last year’s elective showcase helped Payton Ellis decide upon drama for her first year electivel. “It was pretty funny and I enjoyed it. It helped influence me to join drama,” said Ellis.