Entering into a new era of technology, Bear River High School previously believed knowing how to use technology is important, which is true. However this year, a new class replacing Frosh Tech is introduced.

Frosh Tech was a class for freshmen that involved coding and computer science. However, this new class is “college and career readiness class, and it is about helping freshmen start to think about what their future is going to be like after high school” as Get Focused, Stay Focused teacher Josie Andrews explained. 

This class has a workbook that provides surveys and projects that help students try to figure out what interests them, and what skills they have that can be applied in the future. 

“You need to get focused and start preparing for your future, and this class helps you do that,” Freshman Isabella Salgado commented.

“It really helps you think about what interests you,” Peter Rice, a fellow freshman, said.

Students appreciate what the class has helped them with. Not only has the class been supporting the freshmen with career and college decisions, but it has also been helping them find what they enjoy and what they are naturally good at. 

“I want to be a doctor when I grow up, and I am learning how I can do that,” Freshmen Adam Degruccio stated. 

“I want to be a surgical assistant when I grow up, and this class helps because it asks you about yourself and what you want,” Salgado said. 

The class is not just focused on going to college. It also embraces the other career choices and supports any path the student wants to take. 

“I think college is great, but I do not think it is necessarily for everyone,” Ms. Andrews commented. “There is a lot of pressure on kids to go to college, but there are other opportunities besides going to college. So I like to think of it like this: What do you want to do after high school, not where do you want to go to college?”   

The class also focuses on basic skills that will come in handy when the students are done with high school and become hard working adults. Some of these skills involve budgeting, learning how to do taxes, and managing time and money. 

“When I talk to seniors who are finishing up school and really starting to think about what to do with their lives, they always say that they wished they had learned how to do taxes or budget,” Ms. Andrews said. “It is always the practical skills that they don’t learn. So in this class, we are going to go into how to spend and save your money, and how much to spend and housing and rent, and vacations, things like that.”  

Rice further explained how he is looking forward to future classes.

“So far we have only been talking about what interests us, but soon we are going to start talking about money, which I think is really important,” he stated. 

Even though Get Focused, Stay Focused has replaced Frosh Tech, the class will be very helpful for freshmen to start thinking about their futures.