Students at DHS shared their opinions about their top courses and teachers. Selected teachers also shared their perspectives on operating their classes, for insight behind why those courses and teachers are favored.

    Senior Emily Johnson has taken choir from fifth grade, and after seven years in choir,  has claimed it to be her favorite class since. 

    “My favorite class would have to be choir… I just love seeing everybody’s passion about singing and sight reading,” Johnson said. “It’s just amazing to hear what so many voices can do to make it sound like one, and I find it very interesting.”

    Johnson describes her choir teacher, Mr. Yurasek, nicknamed “Mr. Y,” as someone who teaches his students to be themselves and helps them all feel welcome.

    “Mr. Yurasek, who is our choir director, he’s very understanding and he’s very chill,” Johnson said. “[He] Tries to make everything a beat. So if you’re having a bad day and you walk into choir, you will definitely know that you’re going to be cheered up, because everyone is going to be rooting you on. Mr. Y is just gonna have a little dance party and it’s amazing.”

    Mr. Yurasek teaches choir at the high school primarily, and occasionally helps teach at the middle school with Mrs. Yurasek. He said he is very honored to be appreciated and seen by students for the work they do in choir.

    “It’s an honor, it’s very flattering,” Mr. Yurasek said. “It’s… just so nice to hear, because I’m always in the weeds in teaching mode and sometimes everyday isn’t the same… but most of the time it’s wonderful and fun.”

    Mr. Yurasek describes choir as a large group glued together cohesively, like a single, conjoined voice in a classroom of several groups of voices altogether.

    Mr. Yurasek’s way of teaching is structurally based on “vocal improvement, music literacy, learning to read music better, to understand what you’re looking at and performing at the highest level possible,” he said.

    Mr. Yurasek said that the true essence of choir isn’t just structure alone, but how a group works to tie it all together.

    “One of the major things that we do is trying to learn to gel and become one, cohesive group, and to execute as a group,” Mr. Yurasek said. “That’s important, to sound like one group, one voice altogether. That’s the true essence of choir.”

    Kyliee Allison, a junior, called child development a top course of hers, despite it being a roller coaster ride.

    “I love child development,” Allison said. “That was a super fun class.”

    Allison said she loved learning about taking care of the computer-baby and child development as a whole.

    “The baby project in child development, that was definitely a roller coaster,” Allison said. “The baby schedules were flipped, and so I would sleep throughout the day and not sleep at all during the night, so I got no sleep that weekend.” 

    Allison said she appreciates all of her teachers for their encouragement, and how they make their classes enjoyable so students want to come to class.

    “Teaching is not easy, and I don’t think I’d ever want to be a teacher,” Allison said. “So credit to all of them for what they do, for encouraging me every day and making me want to come to class.”

    Child development teacher, Mrs. Karrer, wants students to take away lessons that are still helpful after high school. She also created a learning space where students can talk and share their ideas without being judged.

    “I let my students know that my classroom is a safe space, so they are able to express themselves,” Mrs. Karrer said. “We have lots of class discussions. Everyone has different life experiences and different points of views to contribute.”

    Mrs. Karrer teaches her students that “their voice matters, and if their life experiences and points of view are different, they aren’t wrong. It contributes to the whole.” 

    Mrs. Karrer said she has always been in awe of the strength that students have.

    “I’ve learned that high schoolers are resilient, and a lot are going through really tough things,” Mrs. Karrer said.

    Taylor Draper, a sophomore, said despite math being his favorite subject, Mr. Smith’s English class has quickly become his favorite class and teacher.

    “I love math, but reading can be fun too,” Draper said. 

    In class, Draper said that Mr. Smith, “helps me understand SCR questions the most for structured responses.”

    Draper also said Mr. Smith does not ask much of his students and is pretty chill, which contributes to Draper nicknaming his favorite teacher, “The Bomb.”

    Mr. Smith, who teaches English on-level and advanced, found a purpose in helping every student’s story come to life and progress.

    “My goal throughout my class is to just help everyone improve even a little bit,” Mr. Smith said. “I think English is incredibly important in all aspects of life …everyone has a story to tell. I want to help people learn how to share that story and put their best foot forward when being successful both inside school and out.” 

    Mr. Smith comes to school everyday with his students in mind, trying to find a way to help and support them in his classes.

    “I run my classes with my students’ best interests at heart,” Mr. Smith said. “Every day I show up, I try to think how I can help my students in even the smallest ways possible: whether that is helping them have a little bit better of a day, maybe making them laugh, or teaching them the importance of getting their work in on time, and showing up to class on time.”

    Mr. Smith said he hoped that every student will take something important away from his class, and become the most successful they can be.

    “One major thing I hope my students take out of my class, is that the words they say matter,” Mr. Smith said.

    Diego Tapia, a freshman, shared his favorite things about agriculture mechanics and why it is his top course and possible future career.

    “Since the start of school we’ve been doing notes, but we’re going to start cutting metal, torches, and by November start welding,” Tapia said.. “Mostly what we’ve learned, so far, is about fire extinguishers and weirdly specific stuff about safety.”

    Mr. Vann treats his students all the same no matter what, and “has helped us learn a lot about mechanics,” Tapia said.

    Tapia liked the class so much that he called Mr. Vann “pretty cool,” and has even considered a career related to agriculture mechanics.

    “I’ve always wanted to work in manufacturing, I like welding, maybe I could get a job related to that class,” Tapia said.

    Tapia has shown an inside view that there is potential for a career in agriculture mechanics, after learning a lot about the class with Mr. Vann’s guidance.

    Mr. Vann teaches a student-led classroom, where he lets the students take the reins and allows them to be in the spotlight.

    “I let the students be the center of attention, let them lead the direction in the classroom,” Mr. Vann said. “It’s really centered around students. We try to do some fun projects here and there, so it makes it a little more fun.” 

    Although Mr. Vann allows students in his classroom to have more control in the direction of their course, he still expects accountability and good ethics from them.

    “The real big thing is having discipline and respect,” Mr. Vann said. “Respect is probably the biggest thing and being able to respect your peers, respect your teachers… that’s like a good person thing is trying to teach them good morals.”