Laughter echoes through classrooms as students collaborate on their projects or assignments. Their happiness turns into a routine, making their school days go from ordinary to remarkable. In these rooms, learning doesn’t feel like a chore, but more like an adventure. These classes simply keep drawing students back time and time again.

For many students, their favorite class goes beyond the curriculum, it’s about the energy, the teachers’ teaching style, and the ability to collaborate with classmates. Senior Josie Elsenraat reflected on her experience in the classes she’s taken with French teacher Madame Schneider.

“It’s just a really fun environment, and the stuff we do in there is really entertaining,” Elsenraat said. “She teaches it in a way that’s easy, and that teaches me well. So I really like it. It’s not horrible.”

A teacher’s ability to make a class enjoyable for their students is a key factor to make the class a favorite for a student.

“Well, she always has a really positive energy, which kind of reflects on us, like it makes us want to have a positive energy,” Elsenraat said. “She’s really nice and understanding, and just is always willing to adapt to every student to make sure they really get it and stuff.”

A student being able to return to a class they enjoy, or taking the next class pertaining to a previous class indicates a student’s liking to the course. Senior Camila Marval reflects on what keeps her going back to Madame Schneiders’ French classes.

“It’s always been a really fun class,” Marvel said. “I kind of just get to relax, because even during the AP classes, we still get time to do fun activities. We have fun all the time. We’re always playing some songs or games. We move around, do a lot of activities on our feet. It’s very entertaining, and it kind of gets our mind off of other things.”

A favorite class stands out because it offers something different compared to the other classes a student has taken or is currently taking.

“It’s always been a safe space, I’ve always felt comfortable in my French classroom,” Marvel said. “I’ve never had to worry about anything. I always feel like I can speak up whenever I want to, because I don’t feel like I’m being judged. We’re like a little family, just how our teacher says”

While students have taken multiple classes with the same teacher, what truly matters is which class became their absolute favorite. Senior Henry Coughlin has taken multiple classes with Foods teacher Ms. Ruis and reflects on the one that meant the most to him.

“Advanced Foods was probably my favorite class,” Coughlin said. “But I haven’t really cooked International Foods yet, so I’m not sure. But you make a lot of fun food and advanced food, so definitely Advanced Foods.”

While students may have favorite classes, what makes a class special to them is another important aspect. Junior Joselyn Ridgway reflects on her favorite part of the Child Development class she took with Mrs. Bravence.

“For my first semester in child development, I had a really fun experience with the real me-real care babies,” Ridgway said. “It was super fun to just kind of put into perspective how hard it really is to become a parent, especially if you’re not trained. We were trained, like how to respond to certain things. And for Mrs. Bravence class, I think she did a great job of explaining that, and I would definitely take that class again for that same project.”

Junior Olivia Moody has also taken classes with Mrs. Bravence. Different from Ridgway, Moody took Teacher Education 1, and Teacher Education 2. She reflects on how welcoming the atmosphere of this classroom is, and how it influenced her decision to take Teacher Education 2.

“I think that especially Teacher Ed 1, I came in as a sophomore, there were a lot of juniors and seniors and, like, it just really made me come out of my shell, because everyone that takes this class is so nice and, like, It’s always such a fun environment…” Moody said. “So, I took this class again just because the environment last year was so much fun. Other than going to field sites, going to the elementary schools, that’s a ton of fun as well.”