What is something that most students have heard from their teachers? “You’ll use this in real life”—the classic catchphrase of teachers—the automatic response when a student asks why they should care about what they are learning or why they should pay attention. Sometimes the student is right and others it’s the teacher who is correct. Today, we will look at times when the teachers were right and the students ended up using their knowledge gained from school in the real world.
Isabella Kistler – IB English
“The most significant class I took at West Ottawa was IB English. While I did not participate in the IB program I genuinely enjoyed the IB courses that I took, especially English. The structure is unique compared to what students are used to;, however, I feel as though it is a healthy challenge. The English course is a two-year course which I was originally hesitant about, but I had great teachers and even enjoyed most of the readings and some of the work for the course. Topics and books that were discussed during the class have really stuck with me, and I had a great experience.”
Brayden DenBleyker – Auto Class at the Careerline Tech Center (CTC)
“The most important class I took was actually not at West Ottawa, it was at the CTC. For me, it was the Auto class because that class is what opened up all the doors for me, and through that class, I was able to get started with the hiring process at Ziegler Mopar Service Center in Grandville. That class also helped me understand math more and get really good at it. That’s thanks to my teachers, Mr. Wilcott and Mr. D. They set me up more than anything for what I’m doing now, and they’re the ones who really helped me dive into how to diagnose a problem with a car more than just the typical plug-in play method, which does work but that costs more money and frustration.”
Li Houston – Orchestra
“The most useful class I took in high school was Orchestra. I took it all throughout middle school as well. It took a lot of discipline and it was nice to feel challenged every year by not only the teacher/conductor but also by my peers.”
Liyah Keigley – Personal Finance
“Personal Finance was probably the most useful class I took in high school just because it teaches you ways to budget, gives you realistic examples to go through on your own, and gets you a little more familiar with tax forms and stuff like that. Either that or Economy class.”
Clayton Evenhouse – Metals
“The most important class I took in high school was Metals. Being able to weld and fabricate has been super useful in my problem-solving skills at work.”
Mae Carter – World Cultures
“The most useful class I took when I was going to high school was World Cultures with Mr. DeLeon. It taught me about other cultures and how we can better understand others.”
Courtney (Dykema) Tieman – Choir
“For me, the most important class I took would have to be choir. It taught me about teamwork with needing to work together to learn songs, stay in tune, and perform as one. It taught me personally about friendship and community in high school being so important as you are with these people every day. You have concerts and competitions to go to and you rely on each other to stay connected and lift each other up. It also helped me open up to others as well, which can be hard in high school.”
Quida Miller – Home and Auto
“Home and Auto was the most important class I took in high school. It taught me how to cook, how to change my own spark plugs, how to do my own oil change, and how to change a tire.”
Melissa Foss – Speech
“I would have to say Speech was the most important class I took in high school. We got to pick subjects to research and present to the class. For some that came easy. For others like myself, it took a lot of courage to speak in front of a class. That year I learned a lot about not only different things I researched, but a lot about myself as it made me open up and tear down some walls as well.”
