At Granite Bay High School, many students take advantage of the business classes and resources that are available. It is a way to get involved with the campus and become an important part of the community.
John Sherman, a business teacher at GBHS, believes that business class helps students see potential in careers, helping them to navigate the future smoothly. The class does this using guest speakers and real life examples that stand out to students.
“We try to get students to see a wide variety of potential industries, jobs and careers to help students visualize what they might want to do in the future,” Sherman said.
Sherman also believes that communication is vital to student success, and that business class helps students to become stronger in fields of communication. Along with other vital skills the pathway offers such as typing and personal finance.
“You’re going to have the opportunity to need to communicate with people, and it’s becoming more and more of a lost art,” Sherman said.
Students feel similarly. Many believe the pathway helped them prepare for other classes or for future college experiences. Elijah Paul, a senior at GBHS, believed the course helped him with a variety of things.
“It helped me, with collaboration with other students, getting more comfortable with public speaking, stuff like that,” Paul said.
Even after high school, the business pathway helps influence careers and education pathways in college. GBHS has many alumni who have benefitted from these courses and the opportunities that come with them. One of these alumni, Ava Gossell, believes that these courses and their material have helped her to navigate college.
“It’s prepared me to be able to be in the spot that I am for education now, it kind of put me on the road that I knew I wanted to be involved in the business world, and so when I got to college, I knew what to look for, and I knew what to be involved in,” Gossell said.
As well as having academic benefits, the class also helps students form personal relationships. This may include friendships or mutual respect between students and teachers. These classes help people at GBHS make good memories that will last.
“Every single one of them goes out of their way to kind of connect with you on a personal level. And I think that’s just something that stood out to me the most,” Gossell said.
The business class helps students form their own values, helps them decide where they may want to go in life and gives them a chance at real life experiences. No matter what a student does outside of school, they always have an opportunity in the business pathway.
“It’s accessible to all students. I think all students can enjoy it regardless of what they’re interested in,” Paul said.
