BJH Electives

Have you ever wondered what electives we offer here at BJH? if you have, you should read my article. I will be going over a majority of the electives we have here at BJH like drama, marine biology and the class I'm writing this article for is creative writing.

The first elective I will be going over is drama. Drama is an elective that focuses on fundamentals of theater. Including acting, improvisation, and stagecraft, to develop skills like communication, confidence, and collaboration. The teacher for this elective is Mr Ausmus who teaches both 8th grade English and drama. Another elective we offer here at BJH is creative writing. The teacher for this elective is Mrs Bott who teaches both 7th grade English and creative writing / journalism. If you didn’t know, this elective actually started as a club at lunch last year but this year it became an elective that can be a semester long or year long. This is one of my electives and one of my favorite classes for many reasons but the main reasons are that I get to have such a wonderful teacher and that I get to spend time doing what I love to do which is writing. If you love writing too I recommend this elective for you. 

We also offer forensic science which is my other elective. In forensic science you learn  to collect and analyze evidence so far this year we have done hair labs and finger printing. I think this is a great elective for you if you would like to be a crime scene investigator or a more lab based position like a forensic scientist. I chose to take forensic science because I've always been interested in crime scene investigating. Another science based elective we have is marine biology. Marine biology is an elective where you get to learn about sea life including plants, animals and microbes. So far this year  they have done a shark lab. Most students who take this class say that they chose this class because they get a chance to learn more about sea life. The teacher for this elective is Mr furrow who also teaches science 8 he said that he became interested in marine biology because he loves snorkeling.

The next elective I will be going over is BCTV. You may know BCTV because it plays every wednesday in your 1st period class. If you choose BCTV then you can be a part of the BCTV video that they play. If you didn't know, BCTV stands for bobcat television. The teacher for BCTV is Mr Vela, Mr Vela also teaches digital photo and yearbook.

Another elective is industrial arts. It is a hands-on class that teaches students to apply what they learn by creating physical projects, which can range from simple woodworking to more complex builds and designs. If you are an 8th grader and you took industrial arts last year you can now take BITA. BITA is a year-long elective that only 8th graders can take. The teacher for this elective is Mr Houston The course covers basic construction math which is  measurement and scale, blueprint reading, safety, procedural use of hand and power tools. Students acquire these skills through the use of technology and real world problem solving. Julian McCoy, an 8th grade student, takes both Spanish and BITA. He said that he chose spanish because he wanted to learn more about hispanic culture and he also wanted to learn how to speak spanish he chose to take BITA because he had taken industrial arts in 7th grade and he liked the class. The last elective I will be going over is Spanish. In case you didn't know if you are in 8th grade you take a spanish, korean, or french class. Spanish is an elective class where you can learn new vocabulary and grammar. Spanish 1 is the equivalent of high school Spanish 1. Successful completion of Spanish 1, with an A or B grade, prepares students to enter Spanish 2 in 9th grade.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my article and hopefully it helped you learn more about  the electives we offer here at brea Jr. High school. Unfortunately, I couldn't go over all of the electives but I was able to go over drama, creative writing, forensic science, marine biology, BCTV, industrial arts, bita and spanish. Thank you to all the students and teachers  who let me and Alyson interview you.

Written By: Kathalena  Navarro

Edited By: Alyson Gomez