What Science Class Should You Take Your Upperclassman Years?

Unlike most of the core classes offered at HHS, upperclassmen have the choice of what science class or classes they want to take their junior and senior year. 

When deciding what class or classes to take during your upperclassmen years, the main thing you should take into consideration is what you plan on doing after high school. Garth Walbridge, an Anatomy and Physiology teacher at HHS, would say what science class a student should take their upperclassmen years completely depends on the individual student.

“If you are not going into science it totally depends on what you’re going into, what you’re good at, or what you like,” Walbridge said. “I would say if you are in honors classes, try and stick it out with honors classes just to keep you challenged. If you’re not in an honors class, that doesn’t mean you can’t take an honors class… It’s just whatever your pathway is, try and figure out which one would help you the most.”

If you’re fairly certain about what you want to do after high school, Walbridge recommends asking someone in that field what class or classes they would recommend taking.

“If I were that student and I really knew what I wanted to do, I would talk to somebody in that field to try and figure out, you know, what did they take, what did their college course load look like,” Walbridge said. “So if somebody is really invested, that’s what I would suggest doing.”

For students who aren’t sure about what they’re going to do after high school, Ashley Speak, a Precalculus teacher at Hastings High, suggests picking the class that’s the most interesting to you.

“I think when you’re picking a science class, you have to pick something that interests you. Otherwise I think it’s just like any class; you know, you get confused or you lose interest in [the class] and it’s kind of hard to stay motivated,” Speak said. 

What class will be easiest for what student depends mainly on each student’s strengths and how they learn.

“It totally depends, and I still say this to my students every year. It depends on what type of learner you are,” Walbridge said. “If you are really good at memorizing a lot of stuff in a short amount of time, Anatomy would be easy for you. If you are not, that’s going to be your hardest class. Everybody gets lost in the math of Physics. [Regulars] Physics is Algebra. It’s not too much math, but it’s a lot of hands-on stuff. Honors Physics, on the other hand, okay, now we’re talking some Calculus stuff. Whereas, if you’re really not strong in math, that is going to be very difficult for you.”

The typical route for HHS students is taking Physics or Chemistry their junior year and Human Anatomy and Physiology if they take a science class their senior year, though some students take both Physics and Chemistry their junior year and take Human Anatomy and Physiology their senior year. The school also encourages students to take either Physics or Chemistry during their junior year to prepare them for the ACT since it includes some questions about chemistry and physics. For students not going into the medical field or another science-related field, Walbridge still recommends taking a science class your senior year, but he understands why some students decide to not take a science class their senior year.

“I mean, I would encourage them to take four years of science, but I know a lot of people run into ‘I don’t like science or science is hard for me’. So I’m never going to force a kid to take that fourth year of science if they’re not willing to,” Walbridge said. “I would probably say Anatomy would be the least relevant overall if you’re not going into science or anything like that. And I know people get scared of, I mean, all of the science classes, but if you are taking general classes, it’s going to be no different than any other general science class that you’ve taken in the past.”

For students going into the medical field, the typical route is taking Chemistry Honors or both Chemistry and Physics Honors their junior year and taking Human Anatomy and Physiology Honors during their senior year. 

“So medical field wise, you’re for sure gonna take all of the science classes in college so you want to take as many as you can before you graduate because it’s free. You don’t lose that money if you fail that class, but you at least get the experience,” Walbridge said. “And then anytime you take one of those honors: chemistry honors, physics honors, anatomy, you’re just challenging yourself to put you into a better pathway for that pre-med pathway.”

Mica Francis, a senior who is planning on majoring in Biology and becoming a physical therapist, recommends students going into nursing to take advantage of the CNA class that is new to HHS this year.

“[Honors] bio, I didn’t take it sadly, which I probably should have… I know that they give the opportunities for nursing classes now so if you can get in that try, obviously. And then chemistry is kind of on the iffy part, but they say it’s needed…, that’s what most people would say though.

Another class that could be beneficial to HHS students going into the medical field is AP Chemistry, which allows HHS students to get college credit for the class if they get a high enough score on a test students in AP classes can take at the end of the year, though the cost of the exam can deter students from taking an AP class. 

“If you’re like a junior planning to go into the route of something medical- because I know a lot of medical students usually go into chem- then taking those college classes would be very nice,” Kevin Vuong, a senior at HHS said.

HHS also offers AP Physics, a class Walbridge recommends to students going into a science-related field.

“So if you’re still going into the science field, you’re probably most likely going to hit at least chemistry and at least physics. And then especially if you’re here and we offer dual credit for some of those classes, you’re going to have to take them in college, might as well try it here; you’re going to have a little bit more one on one, especially if you’re going to a big college, so it might be a little cheaper, and it might be a little bit better for you to get that extra help,” Walbridge said.

Coach Speak recommends students taking Precalculus Honors to take Physics Honors since Physics uses some of the same math students learn in Precalculus.

“I would recommend that [students in Precalculus] take Physics Honors if they can. There’s just a lot of concepts that match up. They do a lot of similar graphing in terms of trig and things like that. So if it’s fresh in their head it seems to be easier…,” Speak said.

One reason that Walbridge recommends students to take Anatomy and Physiology is if they’re just interested in learning more about the human body.

“Specifically thinking medical profession, and it doesn’t have to be nurse or doctor it could be, CNA. You know, if you’re really thinking CNA stuff right out of high school, anatomy will give you a pretty good head start on that,” Walbridige said. “And then, I mean, if you like the human body, we talk about the human body. So if you’re just straight up interested about how the body works, how everything interacts, because I think that’s probably one thing we don’t think about, like, if I were to ask a student what’s the most important system of the body, a lot of people don’t think about the endocrine system, which deals with hormones… so I would just say if you’re interested in the human body, I liked it when I was in high school because I was into sports, so getting to see all of those connections really made it interesting for me.”