Allowing students to choose electives can be beneficial, as they develop and learn new academic and non-academic skills. Eisenhower High School offers around 20 electives to students. Choosing electives becomes important as students explore possible career interests or a new hobby. According to Ms.Soto, child development & careers with children are among the most commonly selected electives. Ms. Bravo, who teaches this elective, is in room H-1, explaining Lectures, video notes, Belly project, baby project & final unit Posters for Child Development is all work that is required for her classroom. Since it’s child development & careers, for careers students go off campus 4 days a week to work in an elementary classroom, creating lesson plans and activities. Helping supervise students during lunch and recess. These are amazing opportunities for students who want to study elementary and secondary school or become teachers. These are all excellent options available. There are so many amazing electives that Eisenhower has to offer, making it impossible for students not to feel connected to them.
Ms. Soto explained that world languages are counted as electives. Here at Eisenhower, two major languages are offered: Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL). The requirements for both languages are a minimum of 2 years, but colleges recommend 3. Both ASL and Spanish go up to four years. Spanish is offered as an AP, which is directly related to the College Board. AP Spanish Language requires communication skills and the ability to navigate through the second most spoken language. Many students in this class are seniors. This exam is divided into two sections, with the first section being multiple choice involving 65 questions and is timed to 95 minutes. This section of the exam is worth 50% of your AP Exam. Many students can create a career from this, such as Child, Family, and school social workers, Curators, and much more. The highlighted points of this elective are to understand Spanish when you hear it and read it. Holding Spanish conversations in real-life situations is the objective of this class, showing a positive outcome. Students should join this elective or foreign language because it allows their mind to expand and step outside of their comfort zone. Regular Spanish is required for two years, but it is recommended by colleges to stay until the third year.
American Sign Language is based on visual learning used frequently by the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community. This community teaches individuals how to learn facial expressions, shapes, numbers, and letters. Eisenhower has two teachers available for this program, such as Ms. Barbee and Mr. O’Howell. According to Mr O’Howell, this elective is extremely easy to enter. He implies that for Spanish students, if you don’t know a word in Spanish, you can easily feel displaced in the class, but with sign language, you can spell it with the alphabet, as there are guides around the room to help you with it. The work that is given to this class is weekly vocabulary, meaning students are using flashcards for the 5 parameters, along with the vocabulary they are voicing off and interacting with other students while signing and going from one person to another, talking about the weekly vocabulary and different sentences. For example, “I am going to the store” in the English version, in the Sign Language glossary version, “STORE THERE I GO WILL” highlights different grammar used in the community. Gloss is using English words (IN ALL CAPS) to document sign order, grammatical structure, and non-manual signals. The majority of the students love this class, and several want to continue and have it as a possible career. ASL is a club that meets monthly to discuss and learn topics. The club is a great spin-off from the course, allowing students who are not in the class to be a part of the club.
Besides the language electives, there are more interesting electives that are offered to students, such as Engineering Design. This elective is taught by Mr. Atkinson, who explains that in the first year, students learn to use 2D and 3D Computer-Aided Design programs to design things in 3D. Students can then use Laser cutters, 3D printers, milling machines, and other tools to make the drawings into real objects. This elective not only allows students to explore new material, but it also highlights creativity. Students also enjoy this elective because of the creative design aspects of this class, and getting to make their own design and see it become real brings satisfaction to students. Future students who are interested in this class should join next year, because if a student likes to make or design things. If they want to change the way things work, if they like designing their own objects, if they want to learn to create 3D designs, then they should take Engineering Design. These electives are very fun and can be useful for the future!
The fine arts & visual electives are so impressive and intriguing for students who like to broadcast their talents or who are interested in the sound of music. Woodwinds is taught by Ms. Scherzer. The class focuses on reading music and improving your skills on your instrument. Including the usage of flute, clarinet, saxophone, oboe, and bassoon. This elective is really useful and interesting for those who like tuning into sounds. Students enjoy this class as they can grow individually and as a section. Students bond over playing similar instruments, sharing talents, and aspirations. The band performs during school events, and for future reference, students should choose this class if they play a woodwind instrument, plan to be in a band, and love instruments. Another similar elective is Brass, which is offered by the same teacher, Ms. Scherzer, but both are fairly different. In this class, students focus on improving their music reading ability and developing their skills on brass, including amazing instruments like trumpet, French horn, trombone, baritone/euphonium, and tuba. This elective is enjoyed by many students as they enjoy learning more about their instrument and building skills individually and as a section. Students can enter this class by concurrent registration in band. Another elective related to band is Percussion,where students focus on improving music reading skills, increasing playing skills on all percussion instruments, including orchestral percussion and mallet instruments. This class requires reading music and playing orchestral percussion. This is not a class about drum sets or rock bands! This elective choice requires concurrent registration in band.
The next fine arts that is available is Choir, this elective involves singing, dancing and, showcasing special talents while in the stage spotlight. An interesting fact about the choir is that there are 3 groups Mrs Chamberlain organizes. The Beginning Choir is called Acapella. This group is for students who are just starting, whether it’s their first year or if they aren’t quite advanced just yet. The work required for this class is to focus solely on vocals and projecting your voice. Students enjoy this class the most because it has a connection to family, talents, and the ability to grow. Students choosing choir will allow you to grow not only your talents but also as a person. The other group Mrs Chamberlain teaches is Ikettes; this group is strictly an all-girls group, which is normally during 6th period. While they don’t get the same practices as Madrigals, they are still required to participate in competitions. Both groups require you to try out for the school year. Both these groups demonstrate profound working ability, dedication, and commitment. Madrigals is a group for all genders to join and is the top of the choir classes, which is held during 5th period. They practice Tuesdays and Thursdays in order to be prepared for their shows and competitions. Choir is a place where many can broadcast their talents and find a family among each other. I would definitely recommend joining!
Another interesting elective that you can be intrigued by is Cybersecurity. This elective is open to all students and can be a potential major or career. According to Mr Godinez, the work that is required for this class is exploring key concepts in technology, including Cybersecurity, Networking, Security, Data & Privacy, Hardware, Software, Coding, and AI. They learn through hands-on material such as labs, projects, and discussions. The goal is not just to learn concepts, but to apply their knowledge in realistic, career-connected ways. He explains that the way students can feel about this class can go both ways since they are depicting software and much more but overall, yes most students find the class engaging because it’s different from a traditional lecture-based course. There’s a strong focus on interaction, movement, and real-world application. Students often work with partners or teams, participate in structured discussions, and have opportunities to make choices in their learning through projects. Many students enjoy the hands-on aspects, like working with computer hardware or solving cybersecurity challenges. Others appreciate learning skills that feel directly relevant to their lives, such as protecting personal data or understanding how technology works behind the scenes. Like any class, enjoyment can depend on effort and mindset, but students who engage tend to find it both interesting and rewarding. Mr Godneiz states that students should choose this elective for next year because if they’re interested in technology, problem-solving, or careers in cybersecurity, IT, or networking. The course provides practical skills that are useful even outside of tech careers—like understanding online safety, managing digital information, AI, and thinking critically about technology. It’s also a great opportunity to build career-ready skills, such as collaboration, communication, and analytical thinking. Students get exposure to industry-aligned content (such as CompTIA concepts), have a chance to get industry certifications, and they have opportunities to explore different areas of technology to see what interests them most. Additionally, the class is designed to be interactive and student-centered, so students aren’t just sitting and listening—they’re actively learning by doing. Additional information about the elective is that the class is designed to support a wide range of learners. Whether a student is brand new to technology or already has experience, there are opportunities to grow and be challenged. The goal is to create an environment where students feel supported, can take risks in their learning, and leave with skills that will benefit them in the future.
This elective has been newly added, but it shouldn’t go unnoticed. Mr Davis, who teaches journalism, has been both an English teacher and organized the journalism club. Journalism was offered as an elective for the 2025-2026 academic year. The student’s goal for the class is to write news articles for the School Newspaper, the Golden Gazette, which can be viewed by family, students, and staff. Mr Davis furthermore explained that students enjoy the class because of the engagement in activities on campus, and enjoy the class because they get to highlight all the great things happening at Eisenhower. Students also enjoy the class because what they write about is up to them. Since it provides them a voice on campus, many students who are interested in writing, communication, and serious brainstorming should enroll in this course the following school year. If they enjoy expressing their interests and have a passion for writing or photography, they should join this class. This class highlights the importance of sharing local news and school news that some people can overlook and be misinformed. Mr Davis shares that Journalism is a dying art that we need more of in life. When the world is turning more into Fake news and AI-generated, it is important to be a center of honest reporting that people can trust
The history of the Annual Yearbook is essential to high school students because so much information and activities happen in a single school year that others couldn’t possibly remember. Ms. Price, who runs the yearbook, implies that it’s designed to help us not only see memorable photos but to create meaningful memories. The Annual (Yearbook Production) is a creative elective where students write stories, take pictures, create captions for the pictures, create layouts and templates for yearbook spreads, and preserve memories of the year. Students enjoy the classroom because those who like to socialize find the class enjoyable, as they get to join their classmates during their finest moments. Those who like to photograph will enjoy the class because they are able to practice their skills. Many should join the class next year because it taps into students’ artistic side, while AP students can use another part of their brain to accomplish things. Additionally, the class allows students to practice their “people skills”. Yearbook is an elective to be free-minded and contribute to the production in order for your experience to be positive.
All of these electives you choose play an important role as they’re shaping you for greatness. Not only are these subjects significant because they aren’t from our standard classes, like math, English, and science, but they also allow you to expand your knowledge. You may dislike the phrase because it’s not your style, but once you step outside of new ideas, you can find it to be awesome and creative. Thinking for the future can be crucial, but electives are great opportunities to explore yourself and what would be best for you. Many of these electives will play a major role in your future, or just for your hobbies, it’s always worth giving a try.
