By Andrea Malo

Austin High School principal

What do you want to be when you grow up?  That is a question that we often ask our students. Some may quickly give you an answer while others may not really have an idea of what they hope to do for a career.

The good thing for our kids is that they don’t have to have that answer today.  During their high school experience, they will have opportunities to explore many different interests by participating in activities, job shadowing, and by taking a variety of classes.  This is the time of year at Austin High School that we really focus on exploring those interests as we enter into the course registration season.

Planning for next year’s classes started in October.  Teachers worked with their departments to review course offering and proposed new courses. Austin High School will be offering a variety of new courses next year including in the Agriculture Department Floral Design and in the Physical Education Department, Integrated Physical Education that will allow a partnership between general education and special education students.

Three new concurrent/PSEO classes will be offered; Introduction to Education, Human Relations, and State and Local Government.  All of our introductory Career and Technical Education classes will no longer have grade level limitations, but be available to all students in grades 9-12.

In December, our students met with their teachers in their core subject areas (math, science, language arts, and social studies) to discuss required course options for next year.  Teachers take time to meet with each student and discuss course options to ensure that they are selecting the courses that offer the appropriate challenge and to help prepare them for future postsecondary and career aspirations.

As we continue through the registration process in the month of February students will have opportunities to select elective courses.  These are courses that allow students to explore their interests.

They may choose to take a career and technical education course, explore computer science, take a photography class or learn a foreign language.  High school is an opportunity for students to try different classes.

They might discover that they have a strong interest in something that they never thought they would enjoy.  They might also find that once into a course their interest is not as strong and nudge them to look at other options in the future.

Our registration process is completed in the month of March with conferences where students and families can review the courses that they selected for next year.

Prior to conferences, students will all have the opportunity to meet one on one with their high school counselor to review courses and to look at their four-year high school plan.  Starting with 9th grade registration, students put together a four-year high school plan so that they can start to think about their future direction.  The four-year academic plan is reviewed yearly and students can make adjustments.

So, what will you be when you grow up?  It is a good question to ask out students, but they don’t need the answer.  Registration is a great time to explore all their future options.

For more information about course offerings, registration timelines, and general registration information, please visit the Austin Hight School website under the Counseling Office tab at www.austin.k12.mn.us/ahs/Pages/counseling/registration.aspx.