The third year of senior seminars will run from Monday, May 18-Friday, May 29.
The seminars will be run exactly as they were last year.
“The goal is to find a wide range of courses that students will like and enjoy that also provide them with useful life skills,” said Brooke Wells, head of high school.
According to Wells, several of last year’s less popular courses (bicycle maintenance and college awareness) won’t be offered this year.
Previously offered courses such as Chillin’ n’ Grillin’ (a basic grilling and barbecue course, taught by Wells and math teacher Chris Millsback), Automobile Maintenance (taught by history teacher Daniel Neukom) and a CPR class (taught by the American Red Cross) will all be returning, according to Wells.
While all other classes are free, the CPR class will cost $90. By the end of the all-morning course, students will be CPR-certified by the American Red Cross.
While classes like Automobile Maintenance and CPR are optional, several courses will be mandatory, including Financial Literacy, Resume Writing, Interview Preparation and the Career Panel.
The Career Panel will be comprised of a mixture of new and old speakers. Panel speakers are decided on a rotating basis and will include attorney and former Octagon editor-in-chief Kelley Taber, ’84; blogger and lifestyle expert Jordan Younger, ’09; and product and event coordinator Katie Estep, ’09.
The classes will run in two different time blocks, 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.- 12:30 p.m., with the required classes taking both blocks.
Senior Chien Ho is looking forward to two classes in particular.
“I’m excited for Chillin’ and Grillin’ and the (Automobile) Maintenance classes, mainly because I don’t know much about cooking and I don’t know much about cars,” Ho said.
Chillin’ and Grillin’ seems to be a popular class with fellow seniors Erik Morfin-Ruiz, Keegan Crain and Clare Fina eagerly awaiting the class with anticipation.
“What’s better than free food?” Crain said. “Especially good free food!”
Crain is also excited about the CPR class, because of its practicality.
Besides learning to grill, Fina is excited about the CPR certification course.
“Not only is the skill important to learn, but you can learn it all it in one day with your friends,” Fina said.
While Crain is excited about his courses, Ruiz is more apprehensive about his, specifically, the knitting seminar (taught by Latin teacher Jane Batarseh).
Ruiz’s choice came down to scheduling with the choice of either knitting or CPR.
While senior Melissa Vazquez is also taking the CPR course, she is mostly excited about the Financial Literacy course.
“Right now, I know basically nothing about money,” Vazquez said.
“Obviously that isn’t good, since knowing what to do with your money is an important skill to have throughout your life.”
