Any useful High School classes?

What were the most useful classes you took in High School? I know, they all seemed useless at the time, but, on looking back, which ones helped you the most?

I can think of three:

1. Typing. A useful, life-long skill.

2. Practical Economics. This was a class that counted as math but covered such things as how the banking system worked, how mortgages worked, how to calculate interest rates, etc.

3. Extended English. This was largely a vocabulary-building class.

1. Art
2. Wood shop/metal shop
3. Typing/computers

1. PE
2. English
3. Spanish
4. Anatomy & Physiology

I didn't know how to cook properly until I was 16 [couldn't even boil an egg!] so I think Hospitality was a useful one for me. It's also what I'm doing my degree in today.

Another useful one was English - I also learnt a lot of life skills in that class because my teacher was wonderful.

Math & Physics...
A great foundation for learning pretty much anything else.
Sadly, you don't learn any people skills in math.

I also enjoyed band (I played the saxophone), and art history.
Everyone should play an instrument.

the only ones I still use:

drivers education
Spanish

I would say keyboarding (typing) but I learned how to do that in middle school, so in my high school keyboarding class I would get the lessons done in about 5 minutes and spend the rest of the time playing on the computer while everyone else finished, with the permission of the teacher. lol

I absolutely LOVED architecture class. It was always my favorite class. It helped too that the teacher was also my homeroom teacher, and he was my favorite teacher I ever had in school. I was supposed to become an interior designer, even started college to do so, but I couldn't handle being away from my family so I dropped out and never went back. Not sure that architecture class was useful, but I loved it.

English was a big one for me - our teacher was strict on improving our writing and that's one skill I use everyday.

Computer Programming - I took it as an easy credit at the time, but had no idea how useful a basic knowledge of programming languages would be on the job market.

Chemistry was a useful class for me. I now work in a chemistry field and LOVE it. I always loved chem class, too. We had a great time learning and experimenting, and I retained a lot of information from that course.

I also learned a lot in Civics & Economics class. It was also very fun.

Hmm... Computers in high school was pretty useless for me. I knew more than the teacher!

I say French was useful- just studying a new language really opened up a whole new world for me!

And science / biology, and English. Oh and art!

I think math is the only one I didn't like at all, though I even have to admit that it was probably good for me! Just learning to learn, I certainly don't use it in every day life...

English and all the Science classes. For the most part the science classes were so easy that it was a great way to up my GPA - it tended to make people hate me though as I always kept 100 averages in them.

No memory for math and always had mean teachers for those classes - and yes I know that science and math go hand in hand, so that makes no sense. Leave it at 'I can apply myself if interested'.

Everything else I was already ahead of so I tended to get bored, or played "correct the teacher"... Art was goof off hour - the teacher had nothing to teach me, so as long as I produced some completed pieces now and then she let me be. Funny thing, though I've had many years of art classes, I'm pretty much self taught.

Biology, Physics, Chemistry... and Choir. The first three helped me learn to use reason and scientific thinking, and gave me the tools to figure out all kinds of everyday questions.

But it was years and years of Choir that helped me learn how to develop creative ideas and execute complex projects involving dozens or even hundreds of people... which turned out to be a big help to me in my career... while it lasted...

1) Typing class (though I fought my mom on this one)
2) Consumer math (like your Practical Economics class) I learned compounding interest, mortgages, handling a checking account.
3) French. It taught me English grammar better than my English classes.

Math, Chemistry, Physics, Social Studies, World Geography, Volleyball

Biology
Chemistry
Consumers Math( took it after Functions and Stats as a protest for having to use a calculator and a teacher who could not tell me a real life application )
Home Economics

after school
chess club
HOSA

Latin. I learned more about grammar and sentence construction than I did in four years of English classes and more about history than in the world history class I took.

Choir. We had two different choir directors while I was in high school and both of them were wonderful teachers. I sang in some of the choirs and accompanied others on the piano. It was a great start for my music career which has included singing in and directing choirs, playing the organ for church, and teaching voice and piano.

Typing is always useful and I actually enjoyed the class as well.

i loved psychology, i must say it was the most interesting class i had.

and i always loved science.

My school REALLY pushed to students that a College Prep diploma was better than and more advanced than the available Technical diploma (which I do not necessarily agree with…). I was on track for College Prep but due to illness I failed one of my math classes first semester senior year (never fear - I made it up in an after school class!). For the second semester they put me in the “Technical†class Money Management. While the math itself was extremely easy for me, they taught a lot of really important and practical skills. Things such as budgeting and saving, calculating interest rates, mortgages, tipping, overview of the economic system, etc. It was a very informative class and I can say Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve probably taken a lot more from the 1 semester I spent in that class than I did in the 4 years of the College Prep math classes. I remember sitting in that class thinking it was sad that the ‘less advancedâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] students were getting such valuable information while the ‘more advancedâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] students were not.

I agree with Laureen in that Algebra has been pretty useful You may not realize it, but you do use algebra everyday. Whenever you need to find out an unknown variable that is algebra, like how many loaves of bread can I buy if they cost .99 and I have $3?

I think English class was useful too, even though I didn't like it all that much being able to express yourself in the written form is an invaluable skill.

i wish my HS had offered a "practical math" class, we didn't have anything like that.... at least that I know of, I was on the staight track of college prep and I didn't waiver a lot, I didn't take a lot of electives even though I really wanted to take a Home Ec class