As a student is sitting down in his guidance counselor’s office ready to lock in his courses for next year, he is handed a list with filled with classes like Introduction to Architecture, Robotics, and Introduction to Engineering that he has never heard of. Seeing all these new class options adds unnecessary confusion to what he thought was a clear-cut process.

Each year, new courses, primarily electives, are quietly introduced into the curriculum, leaving students wondering what the new courses could possibly involve. As JC continues to slip in random new courses without better advertising them, students will become confused as they lose the chances to sign up for classes that they would have signed up for if they had more knowledge.

Last year the course Math Analysis was added, but the only thing students knew about it was that it was a math class. For the 2013-2014 school year, a new fine arts class called Music in Your Life was created as a course option, but students didn’t hear in-depth about it until most had already made their schedules.

As brand new courses are introduced into the curriculum, JC should not let them fall by the wayside. They should make an event out of the new electives and try their best to drum up interest about new classes. There is no point in introducing new electives if students are not provided adequate information about them.

At the very least, a portion of the Quarter Two Honors Assembly could be dedicated to a presentation of the new courses that will be offered the next year, giving the whole school the opportunity to hear a blurb on each class and begin planning their schedules knowledgably, instead of being kept in the dark about alternate classes.

Teachers and department heads should try to increase the hype about classes that have been added to their departments as well.

A more fun alternative to an assembly would be a fair for the new classes during an extended advisory, where each department has their own table with materials provided about new courses. That way, students who were interested in the science electives, for example, could focus on their interests and ask specific questions of the teacher that would be teaching the new course.

Even in the classroom a greater emphasis could be put on new courses. If a new social studies class is added for juniors, sophomore social studies teachers should take the time to explain the new course option to students and answer any questions they might have.

With a little effort and explanation, students searching for more classes to take will hopefully find the light at the end of the tunnel, instead of turning up at their scheduling meeting completely in the dark.

Brianna Glase is the Online Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.