There are many honors core classes offered to students at HHS, including English, math, science, and history.
With many honors classes being offered at HHS, one question arises: Are honors classes really worth taking?
In other terms, is the effort students put into these classes worth what they get out of them, such as college readiness, academic growth, work ethic, and time management skills?
Taking honors classes, even if that means taking one honors class per semester, is worth it because honors classes provide students a chance to challenge themselves without overwhelming themselves or signing up for more than they can handle. Honors classes teach students many life-long lessons, such as doing things even when they don’t feel like doing them, managing time, and balancing different priorities, because of the extra effort and time outside of class honors classes require.
Honors classes are a great way to help prepare students for college, specifically, for the rigor and workload of college classes. This can help students feel more confident going into college, and it can make the transition between high school and college easier and more manageable overall. Education Next says, “‘When a student successfully completes a dual credit course, their mindset changes,’ said Michael Villarreal, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio who has studied the impact of dual credit. ‘They see that they can do college level coursework—that they are college material’” (Field). Honors classes can also help students during high school by potentially improving their ACT score or essay writing which can help students get into college and even receive scholarships.
Many college students would encourage high schoolers to take advantage of the higher-level classes that are offered to them in high school. In a survey of first-year college students by BigFuture, a branch of College Board, more than half of the students surveyed expressed they wished they’d worked harder in high school. In the same survey, students who took college-level classes expressed that college-level classes were more worthwhile than others.
For students who aren’t planning on attending college after high school, honors classes can still be beneficial because they push students to build and improve skills they might not develop as much by only taking regular classes that can be beneficial outside of college and in the workforce. These skills include persevering through tasks, such as homework in school or various job tasks in the workplace, even when you don’t feel like it. Honors classes teach you that hard work is often necessary to accomplish your goals, such as certain grades, and that hard work often increases your chances of succeeding. If students learn to work hard on their academics in high school, they can bring the same work ethic they learned in high school with them to college or even a career. According to The National Center for Educational Advancement, a department of ACT, Inc., “That is, students who demonstrate that they are ready for college and that they can successfully complete an AP course and pass an AP exam in high school are also those who are most likely to graduate from college. In general, school systems that do a better job of preparing students for college and career produce more students who take and pass AP exams and also produce more students who later graduate from college” (1-2).
Taking on the responsibility of the workload that comes with honors classes also teaches students time-management skills, problem-solving skills, how to balance the various priorities in their life, and how to be resourceful and responsible for themselves, such as asking for help from a teacher or other students. Also, taking honors classes forces students to get outside of their comfortable bubble, which, if you haven’t heard the old adage, is the only way you grow.
Many students claim that honors classes are too hard for them, not worth their time, or just not for them in general. Only taking one honors class per semester isn’t a large sacrifice, and I would argue, is completely doable for any student in all regular classes as long as they pick the class wisely and use their time wisely. One way for students to do this is signing up to take a study hall and using the time they spend in the study hall room when they don’t go up to the library to actually work on homework or study, which isn’t a huge ask for the overall benefit that will come out of it, if you ask me. To students who would rather just go home after school and hang out with their friends or who have to work, using a study hall to your advantage would be a great way to balance, and learn how to balance, different areas of your life. Some students claim that they don’t have enough time to take an honors class, however, teens spend an average of eight hours and 39 minutes on technology each day according to commonsensemedia.org, meaning that they have enough time to take an honors class; the only concern is if they’re willing to devote some of that time to challenging themselves by taking one, or multiple, honors classes. Taking honors classes can help prepare students for college, and to students who aren’t planning on attending college after graduation, honors classes still build many skills that are beneficial for life after high school and the lives of high schoolers who have other future plans besides college.
