New Electives RHS

This upcoming school year of 2020-21, Ripon High is bringing six new electives to the table. There are three new categories: Patient Care; a medical pathway, Plant and Soil Science; having to do with agriculture and nature, and there is also the Software and Systems Development pathway. All of these pathways have been requested by students in the past, which is the main reason why all of these new electives are being introduced to students. 

“It’s basically based on what we hear and what we feel that it’s going as far as what kids need to be skilled in and what they need to have their background in before they start applying to a job,” Counselor Dawn Goudeau says. 

There are two options for the medical pathway or Patient Care: Health and Medical Technology. There’s Medical Terminology, which is centered around the language of healthcare and the abbreviations of some medical terms. The other options are Sports Medicine I and Sports Medicine II. Sports Medicine I covers many topics, including nutrition, tissue response to injuries, physical therapy exercises, and many more. Sports Medicine II talks more about human anatomy, injuries due to sports, and pathologies of the human body.

“I’m interested in going into the medical field and so I think that sports medicine will help my knowledge in getting into the medical field and give me background information on it, so I’d be most interested in that,” Junior Kiley Tijero states.

In the Agriculture and Nature Pathway, there are multiple choices like the introduction to food and agriculture and the Food Science. The exploration of the modern Agriculture and food system is mainly focusing on the environment and how it is maintained. 

The other option is Food Science. It teaches students chemistry by learning about the science of food and how modern technology is used when it comes to food. 

“I would probably choose the Intro to Ag because I’m in Ag Environmental Science right now and I want to continue with that career path,” Freshman Natalie Johnson responds. 

The final new elective is AP Computer Science A, which is part of the Software and Systems Development pathway. This class teaches students how to prepare and understand how to code through many different forms like analyzing, writing, and testing code. This class is an advanced, college-level course. 

These classes will be able to be chosen in the 2020-21 school year, so make sure to sign up for some of them!