Assembly prepares students for next year's schedule registration

Blair juniors attended an assembly in the auditorium on Thursday, Jan. 27 and Friday, Jan. 28, which explained specialty courses and electives available for the upcoming school year. Sophomores will attend a similar assembly on Monday, Jan. 31 and Tuesday, Feb. 1.

Before the presentation began, Assistant Principal Linda Wanner stressed the importance of selecting appropriate classes. "When you sign your registration card, make sure you're doing the right thing," she said. "Do some careful thinking."

Towards the beginning of the assembly, staff presented a power point consisting of a montage of slides divided into departments while student-produced music played in the background. Following the presentation, a video from the English and social studies departments was shown with Terror Squad's "Lean Back" as its soundtrack. In addition, representatives from each department were stationed at booths outside the auditorium to distribute informational flyers about their respective courses.

Media Literacy teacher Kenneth Smith appreciated the assembly for its detailed approach to explaining courses. "I think it's much better than sitting down with counselors," Smith explained. "We can talk about the class with a little more passion than a blurb on a [registration card]." Smith added that the event allowed him and other teachers to address a larger number of students, thus attracting different crowds. "I want to target different students, a more diverse group," said Smith.

For junior Anthony Passmore, one program described in the video stuck out the most. "It caught my eye when they had the music class," said Passmore. He also explained that he discovered some classes at the assembly with which he was unfamiliar. "I didn't know [Blair] had a Spanish dancing class or TV production class," he said.

For others such as junior Tinny Lee, the assembly clarified all the courses. "It's good we get a chance to get someone to explain this," she said.

Blair Academy Coordinator Susan Ragan organized a similar presentation for freshmen as a part of their Connections class. Freshmen met with small groups to "look at the long range picture," according to Ragan. Students filled out a program-planning sheet that outlined courses the freshmen were interested in taking junior and senior years. Ragan said the activity was designed to help students find "what kinds of courses would help achieve career goals."