Students launched paper rockets down the hall with the physics teacher, petted a pair of rabbits used in animal science classes, watched a pottery demonstration by ceramics students and tried writing a blackout poem at the invitation of a creative writing teacher. The activities were all part of Herriman High School’s first ever Herriman Highlights Open House to showcase the variety of classes available to students.

“It’s not just reading choices on a paper,” HHS teacher Erin Day said. “You see what they actually do in Woods and can tour the woodshop and see what this class would be like. They can see them doing these chemistry experiments, and be like, ‘Oh, that would kind of be a fun class to take, we’re going to do that kind of stuff.’” 

Held the first night of parent teacher conferences, the open house allowed teachers to promote their classes and answer questions.

Samantha Foote drummed up interest for her sci-fi/fantasy literature class and her mythology class with promises of a D&D one-shot and mummy excavations.

“It’s been really fun to be like, ‘Yes, there’s a class that does D&D—you just have to tell your counselor that you want to take it,’” she said.

Those walking through the science hall were drawn into the chemistry lab by colored flames, sparks and other impressive lab experiments which AP chemistry student Parker Goodman said the class does every week. 

He encouraged his peers to take AP
chemistry.

“It opens so many more doors into college and career opportunities, especially if you pass the AP test, you get a big head start into college, which is nice,” Goodman said.

Throughout the three and a half hour event, students in cheer, drill, Dance Company, orchestra/band, choir and theater performed for attendees to generate interest in their programs.

Day said it was helpful for students to meet the teachers, see the classrooms and participate in activities to get an idea of what a class would be like before they register for it.

A student who was considering taking a woods class next year said it was helpful to tour the woodshop. “I just got to see all the projects they get to do and I talked to the teacher and they were really nice,” she said.

Another student, a junior, said if she hadn’t come to the open house, she wouldn’t have learned about all the class options available to earn a language arts credit her senior year.

Day said many students are missing out on taking many of the skills-based and extracurricular classes offered at Herriman because they are taking online classes or work/home release.

HHS registrar Kelli Bland said of 2,516 students currently enrolled, 461 have at least one period of home release and 324 have education or work release. A total of 436 students are taking at least one online course. That equals at a minimum 1,221 periods each day in which a student could be in school but is not. 

Day said it is a growing trend for students to not come to school full time their senior year.

“A lot of seniors go into senior year with that 1.5 credit that they’re needing, and then they are just like, ‘I’m going to take five periods of work release or home release,’” Day said. “It has become a really big thing recently with students so they’re not getting any kind of credit because they don’t necessarily need it.”

At the beginning of second semester, Day said she had about 10 seniors just drop her class to go online. She is concerned that not only are these students missing out on educational opportunities, but they are missing developmental experiences, life skills practice and social interactions. She believes they are at increased risk for poor mental health from isolation and more time spent on their phones and video games.

Stella Smuin said she’s one of the very few seniors she knows who has a full class schedule. She has used her senior year to explore
her interests. 

“It’s my last year to take less expensive classes, so I might as well just give everything I wanted to try a good shot,” she said. “I mostly focused on academic classes earlier in high school, so I wanted to try out art in high school because I love it.”

She has taken AP drawing, AP art, jewelry 1&2, drawing, ceramics and print making 1&2. She has also loved the discussions in her AP government class this year.

HHS class offerings appeal to a variety of interests including athletics, social studies, languages and writing. Students can learn job skills for medical or computer careers, and practical skills such as sewing and auto maintenance. Next year HHS will be the first to offer a screenprinting class and a college level ceramics course.

Day believes college credit classes are the most underutilized resource available to high school students.

“You can do a semester of college for $60 at Herriman High that would cost you $5,000 tuition at the U, so, why aren’t we taking advantage of these?” she said.

The open house was held during parent teacher conferences which has experienced a decline in attendance for the last few years. Because it’s easy for parents to monitor their student’s grades and to email teachers, Day said they no longer rely on conferences to know what’s going on with their student. 

Day said she wished more parents had come to the open house but she was thrilled with the number of students who attended.

“We had a million more people than would have been here for parent teacher conferences, so it was hugely successful,” she said.

Students were incentivized to attend. 

Those who filled out a stamp card proving they spoke to teachers from a variety of departments were entered into a drawing for prom tickets, school parking spots, gift cards and school merch. Those students will also have the opportunity to register for next year’s classes a day earlier than the rest of the student body. λ