In the 1970s, Redwood offered a course called Home Economics, in which students learned life skills such as cooking and household budgeting. Redwood also offered a vocational class on auto mechanics, which taught students about everything under the hood of a car, from the engine to the tailpipe.
Today, neither of these two classes is offered, yet current students still look for courses beyond the basics. So the Bark asked: what kinds of unique academic classes would students like to see added to Redwood’s curriculum?
Junior Sander French said that he would like to see a new class added to Redwood’s Science Department.
“A marine biology class would really be great,” French said. “I think a lot of people, including me, are really interested in this topic. We would be able to actually go out to the Marine Mammal Center, do local labs, and make investigations about problems such as climate change and population declines.”
French also said that he would like to see a course on sports science and medicine that explores the changing equipment, styles, and medical discoveries in modern athletics.
“Since concussions are a big issue with high school sports, we could really look into it and see what could be some solutions to this problem,” French said. “It may actually be a benefit to many high school sports because we might be able to fix certain things and make certain rules, depending on what we learn from the actual class.”
Senior Peter Schmidt said that the addition of unique, specifically oriented courses that allow students to explore potential career paths is something he would like to see more of.
“I’ve always been interested in cooking, so it would be cool if a class could introduce us how to cook. I would know if I wanted to pursue cooking later on in my life,” Schmidt said.
Junior Rachel Ahn said that she thinks Redwood classes have adequately prepared her up to what colleges expect, but would still like to see more diversity in the courses offered for her personal interest.
Ahn said that she would enroll in a Latin class if it were offered in the World Languages Department because it would be helpful for the SAT and ACT, as well as prepare her for what she wants to do later in life.
“I want to go into law when I’m older, and Latin would be really helpful for any career where you have to do research because almost every word is based off it,” Ahn said.
Senior Nikolaj Leszczynski said that if Redwood’s English Department offered creative writing as a course, he would prefer it to any other English class.
“I’ve always really liked writing stories as a hobby, so creative writing would definitely be the one class I would like to see at Redwood,” Leszczynski said.
Rayna Saron, a senior in the music program, said that she hopes a class in AP Music Theory could soon be offered.
“It would be really cool if we had a class that covered much more in depth music theory and a lot of the other elements that are outside of just the performance aspect,” Saron said.
Saron said that it is really important to have specialized classes mixed in with broad-based classes to provide students with a well-rounded education, while facilitating room for a more narrowed topic of interest.
“It would help people more skillfully navigate our complicated world,” Saron said.
Over time, classes like Home Economics and Auto Mechanics have been cut from the curriculum for a variety of reasons. In the past, courses have been dropped due to lack of student enrollment.
“The interest is definitely there,” Saron said regarding potential new classes, “but the way that the educational system is structured and this need people feel to have as many AP classes as they can definitely restricts what people have the ability to take.”
