School is back in swing, and it is already that time of year again– registering for classes. After four snow days, which extended winter break, students were greeted by presentations from guidance. However, instead of a 40 minute presentation like in years past, a 7 minute video was shown instead.

“The video was a little bit more upbeat, and the presentation was shorter,” Mr. Tim Holmes, a guidance counselor said. “We are going to try to beat that up next year with the Desktop Publishing II kids next year and make it an assignment. Hopefully, some of the students can come up with a video that is even better.”

This is not the only change in registering for classes this year. Students were also given a hard-copy of the enrollment guide, despite the fact that last year the guide was only available online after parent and student feedback.

Additionally, students’ online registration added a new aspect known as mass loading the core subjects. This was implemented to help provide assistance on what classes are required for each grade level, an aspect that provided some confusion last year.

“Last year there was a blank screen and students were like what history do I choose?” Mr. Holmes said. “A lot of people know they need a history class, but are not sure exactly what history class to take, for example, sophomores take modern world history.”

Although this change was meant to make the process easier, it has posed some problems for students wanting to register for Honors and AP classes.

“They have a regular class in their registration and have no way of deleting it, because we put it in,” Mr. Holmes said. “We’ll clean it all up.”

With registering for classes, guidance counselors are on hand to give advice for choosing the right classes for next year. Many factors should be considered including students’ current course load, activities outside of school as well as what field the student plans to tackle after high school.

“A lot of it (choosing classes) has to go with how many AP we think they can handle,” Mr. Holmes said. “We have kind of gotten to know the student. We ask the student what they do after school, do they work, or do sports, or other activities, because we want them to enjoy life and not be stuck with just school stuff.”

Getting to know the student proves to be beneficial, not only for finding the appropriate class for the student to register for but also for the later future.

“As we talk to them, we also try to find the best college fit for the student,” Mr. Holmes said. “We try to make sure they have an idea on what kind of career path they want to go into and help them get those experiences for their field, where they can meet people for internships and maybe get a mentor for college, or even life.”

To help ensure that students get the classes they wish and plan to take, all registration should be completed no later than Jan. 23.