Any useful High School classes?

[natalie_ca]

Let's see:

English
Math
Typing
French
Art
Theater
Gym
Biology
Chemistry
Home Ec (cooking/sewing)
Debate
Physics

So far physics is the only one that held up as useless for the most part!

 

[AbbysMom]

Honestly, I think every class was useful in one way or another.

 

[gailc]

Well this was back in the 70's.....
Drivers ed which consisted of classroom/simulator use (lots of accidents using the simulator) then using the parking lot in the summer for parking instruction and we also got to drive a car and the instructor would blow a front tire so we would know how to handle a vehicle in that situation. Then of course driving in town and highway skills.
I suppose typing came in handy too even though I think I still look at the keys!
Home ec-both sewing and cooking,baking, menu planning.
Participating in sports and cheerleading which helps for public speaking!

 

[binkyhoo]

Originally Posted by clpeters23

the only ones I still use:

drivers education
Spanish

Drivers Ed.

Good answer. I did like my english teachers. I can read well but I still cant spell after 40 yrs. Isent cant supposed to have an apothtrophy in it?

 

[keycube]

I had a course called "Humanities", taught by Mr. Dale Seal, that was the only class in all my years of schooling that left an overt impression on me. We were introduced to a smorgasbord of learning materials, everything from Shakespeare, to classical music, to spelling lists/definitions of words that, while very much a drag having them pounded into you at the time, made for a more well-rounded vocabulary that I never cease to appreciate. I'm 39, and have kept those spelling lists all these years. Just a few years ago I tracked down a Stuart Gilbert translation of Camus' The Stranger that we read in class and left a profound impression on me.

Mr. Seal, if by some off-chance you frequent this board, know that you were the lone bright light for a young man that truly detested school. Where others merely teach, you reveled in sharing your knowledge, and I thank you for that.

 

[icklemiss21]

I think all of them were useful but which one had the most impact on me? Civics, after just a few weeks I signed up to take the advanced Government course and read Political Science at university also.

 

[momofmany]

Typing, drivers ed were the ones I use the most today. But I still find myself using things from these classes:

Geometry: helps a lot with sewing when you are trying to cut shapes out of fabrics.

Physics: my physics teacher had us take apart a VW bug engine to learn about mechanical engineering. I wouldn't have a clue about car engines without that class.

Mythology (taught in English): the teacher taught us from the religious books from nearly every faith in the world. It gave me an appreciation of other cultures and put christianity into an interesting perspective. I'm also amazed at how many answers I can pull out of thin air when watching Jeopardy.

Physical education: reminds me that I am getting old and out of shape when I can no longer do 50 sit ups with ease.

 

[nekochan]

My high school was actually pretty useless... The computer class taught me some history of computers but I was already so adept at typing that I was distracting my classmates by typing so fast/loud during class.

The biology and chemistry classes were a joke, they had no funds for supplies and were afraid of giving the students any chemicals or expensive equipment so we had almost no actual experiments. The chemistry professor would have a quiz and then write the answers directly on the blackboard where everyone would just copy them down before turning them in. The English/lit classes were ok but I never studied in those because I usually got an "A" without studying as long as I actually read the book. The math classes were not very useful because I still had to take college algebra and everything and they taught everything at those classes so I didn't really need the high school algebra background. So I guess I will have to say the language courses were the most useful although I don't know enough to be fluent in Spanish or French, at least I can understand the basics...
Aside from that high school was pretty much totally useless. Thanks to my horrible guidance counselor I ended up not completing high school; instead I left, did some correspondence and later took the GED tests and then college entrance exams and was immediately accepted to a state university where I am now working on my B.S. in Biology (almost done.)
If I had known that it was so easy to do the GED and college entrance exams I probably would have just done that when I was 16 and gone to college early instead of late.

 

[zooy]

The only classes I thought were useful and only becasue I had to make them that way.
Communications Technology. There were 2 people in my grade portion of this class... we ended up excusing ourselves from the rest of the class, using another teachers equipment and we made videos the whole term. Useful since I went into broadcasting. Mind you, alot of the time we just carried the camera around and played cards in the cafeteria.

And floristry was a lot of fun as well. I learned a lot from that class.

I wish I wasn't so lazy and had took gym past grade 9. It would have really helped me, now I'm kicking myself for not losing this weight in high school when I had free access to the gym and stuff.