Every February, students are expected and reminded to complete course registration.

Molly Mugge-Cozza, the GT Counselor at Smoky, has been taking students into meetings to discuss this.

“So each year, we really rely on students to tell us what classes they most prefer to take. Specifically in regards to electives, because those choices really do drive the master schedule which gets created each spring,” She said. 

Another counselor at Smoky Hill, Katherine Kaiser went into more detail about the process.

“So when counselors pull students down, we’ll pull up PowerSchool and look at the core recommendations put in by core teachers. And then we’ll look at the elective requests that each student put into Power School. At that time, we glance over current grades, we look at their credits, and make sure that they have put in the correct request for electives next year,” Kaiser said.

Students are now being called to the Counselor’s office to ensure they are prepared with their choices about classes for the next school year, this process continues to stay the same each year.

“We’re doing the same process again, where students have to put in their elective request and core teachers put in their request. Here at Smoky Hill, we do things differently because we pull students individually to look at credits and course requests,” Kaiser said.

Smoky has stuck to the same tradition for years and has been beneficial to the class registration process.

Some believe that counselors pulling students in to help with their schedule requests is beneficial.

“I think it’s good because it helps us to understand how much credit [we] need or just [how to get] the teacher’s help. The teacher helps understand what the students’ plans are after high school, how many credits they need, and what they’re going to pursue after high school,” Aubrey Robbins (11) said.

This gives students the opportunity to talk about their plans for their class next year.

Sophomore Anderson Florea-Vean also mentioned, “I think it’s good because it gives kids a chance to rethink what they want to do in high school. That’s the main reason why they should do it, and it’s a good reason.”

There were a large number of kids that didn’t get their registration submitted in time.

Counseling Assistant Kelly Diblasi said, “In the last three weeks, I’ve had to write and send probably a couple hundred [passes], probably more. In this period, I’ve sent about 15.”

Those who didn’t pre-register not only affects the staff, but the students as well.

“If they do the registration, at least they have the option of picking some other electives and alternatives, whether they’re full or not. In the end, it’s up to the scheduling, but you’re never going to get the classes you want if you don’t register for them.”

Class choices also help the school determine what electives will be run the following year. 

Assistant Principal Christopher Ness said, “If a kid doesn’t do their registration it makes it hard because then they don’t get the classes they want and then they’re kinda stuck when it comes around and counselors have to pick for them,” he also added, “On our side as the assistant principal and principal is we use what kids register to figure out how many teachers we need, what classrooms we need, all these kinds of things, and so if kids don’t register then we don’t pick the right amount of teachers we need.”

It becomes difficult for students to get the classes they want and for the school to plan accordingly.

“Based on student request, teachers are placed into teaching placements. For example, if nobody requested pottery, then we likely would not be able to run a pottery class. So each year we really try to get these students committed by spring break, because that’s when a school is making the plan for the upcoming school year,” said Mugge-Cozza.

Administration urges students to complete their registration on time so that their schedule is ultimately up to their favor.

“Students need to get their registration done so they can get the classes they want, and that they are interested in, and things they want to be able to go into and figure out if that’s something they want to do when they are older,” said Ness.

Because many students across the school did not complete the task of registering for their course schedule in the upcoming year, counselors have kept themselves busy to guide them in a direction that best fits their needs. Ultimately, this has become a process that has been consistent with the Smoky community and beneficial for students in the 2024-2025 school year.