The 2020-2021 school year is coming to an end; with that in mind, the incoming freshman class of 2025 have a lot of electives and core classes to choose from. 

The Mead High website has a very detailed course handbook for students and their families to look through. 

Freshman year is the year of experimentation and finding out what works so that students can feel successful and comfortable in high school.

In order to graduate, students must complete a minimum of 24.5 credits. In the course handbook, it will say how many credits each class is worth. The credit will range from 0.5 to 1.0 per class. Students have 4 years to get the minimum credits so they have some time to get all their credits accounted for. 

The school has a strong science program that consists of many different classes. A lot of the science classes available to all students: this can be regular, Honors, or AP. 

Biology or Honors Biology is a course that focuses on the function of living organisms and their environments. Some topics (from the handbook) include: Biochemistry, Cellular biology, natural selection, human systems, and more. In this class, students will complete labs, dissections and communicate about scientific investigations.

AP Environmental Science is not a requirement for a core class, although if students are interested in how ecosystems function and how animals contribute to our environment, then this is the class for them. Students are not required to take an AP class in their freshman year, but not only is this class educational, it is also fun. Some of the themes this course will be looking at include (also from the handbook): humans alter natural systems, environmental problems have a cultural and social context, science is a process, and many more. 

While Biology is a required course for graduating, Honors Biology dives deeper into living organisms and how they work. Honors Biology is strongly suggested, and students can be an excellent GPA boost. 

Electives are also important and depending on what you choose as your electives, they can make the day a little better. 

Mead High offers a wide variety of electives to choose from and they range from physical education to art and design. 

Invasion and Field is a P.E. elective that focuses on sports and activities where one team is trying to score on another team. This elective is fun and can help students get exercise. This course includes basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and more.

Beginning drawing is a great class for art students. This class does go in a series as well. Students will first start with beginning, then they can go to advanced and if they want, they can take AP drawing. This class focuses on the drawing basics. For instance, shading, line and value. As you get farther into the course, you will get to do projects like still life’s. 

All of these classes and electives are available to freshmen, and are located in the MHS course handbook for 2021-22. 

Freshman year is the beginning of the rest of your highschool and college career, let’s make it worth while and fun.