Greetings, Bobcats! With registration happening this time of year, it can be pretty hectic trying to find some classes you would like to take. Over the past three years I have been here, I can say without a doubt that there are some truly amazing classes you should take and, if you have room in your schedule, I would highly recommend you taking some of them.

The first class I recommend you take is Contemporary Issues. It is a class taught by Mr. Andrews and you must be either a junior or a senior to take it. It counts has ½ of a social studies credit since it is a semester course, and it has been the best class I have taken at Bel Air yet. What you do every day in class is fill out a paper that has questions about what you liked that day in class. As far as what you do in class daily, you discuss issues that are happening here in the U.S. or around the world. The class itself does not feel like a high school class (which is what I like). It feels just like a discussion where you can openly share how you feel about the issues. Throughout the class, you watch a lot of news clips, and get to find articles in the local newspaper that deal with issues here, in Harford County, around the country, and, again, around the world. Over the entire course of the class, each student must do two projects individually, one of which is a song project. You pick a song that has lyrics talking about issues in the world, and share it with the class. In addition, the last project you do will count as your final grade. For this project, you find a topic that you are very passionate about and you just share it with the class. For the song project and final, there is no rubric at all, which is why it does not feel like a normal high school class. For once in your four long years here, you can do whatever you want. If you have room for this class, it surely is one to take!

The second class that I would like to recommend is Environmental Science. It’s a class taught by Mrs. Snell and you must be either a junior or a senior to take it. You learn about the environment, obviously, but you do it in a very fun and interactive way. Also, if you have a C average in the class, you get to go on any fieldtrip she plans. In the class, you watch a good number of movies that show problems with our environment and ways to fix it. You also get to do one big group project a quarter that highlights problems within our environment, or something dealing with the environment. All the projects are super fun to do and they are not significantly difficult to complete whatsoever. You are also required to complete one current topic paper a month. For that, you find an article on the internet that deals with the environment and, on a one-page paper, write a summary about the articles, personal opinions that include how you feel about the issues, and ways to fix or improve the environment. This is another great class you should consider if you have the room in your schedule.

Finally, the last class I would like to suggest to you would have to be Journalism! It is a class taught by Mr. Blackburn, and you can be in any grade to take it! In Journalism 1, you learn about the fundamentals of writing stories, such as the formatting for seven paragraph news stories and feature writing. At the end of Journalism 1, you create a final project, in the form of a movie, that shows off “The Best of Bel Air”. In Journalism 2 and 3, you do… Well… This! Write for The Bellarion! Both classes are combined and you can write stories for the entire year. One story every two weeks is what Mr. Blackburn expects and it is not only fun to write them, but not too difficult either. This class is absolutely necessary if you love writing stories!!