Elective Descriptions
The Garfield Skills Center offers three elective classes; Health and Wellness, Personal Fitness, and Woodworking and Ceramics. Electives are 55 minutes long and students typically have one elective either in the morning or in the afternoon.
- HEALTH AND WELLNESS
- This elective course focuses on promoting well-being and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This course incorporates sports and then benefits of sports for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Students are exposed to different sports, are taught the basics, and proactive basketball for our basketball team.
- PERSONAL FITNESS
- This elective course gets the students up and moving. Students move their body through yoga, cardio drumming, zumba, beat saver, meditation, and other activities to increase our stamina. Students are also exposed to different games that they can play as a group to work together. Good sportsmanship and participation are encouraged!
- WOODWORKING AND CERAMICS
- The wood shop class focuses on tool and machine skills, along with an emphasis on work safety. Class projects allow students to develop woodworking skills such as sawing, sanding, assembly, painting/staining, and finishing. Students begin this class by learning about and using small hand tools and work their corresponding hardware. Power tools and machinery are used for advanced projects following completion of safety and operational training. Students participate in project brainstorming and design of lawn/garden items. Students are also given the opportunity to work at the craft shows and practice basic business skills. This class also has a ceramics component. Students exercise their fine motor skills while working with clay to make individual projects such as bowls, name plates, and creative designs. Working with pottery offers students the opportunity to learn about and use a different set of tools, including sponges, small picks, and paint brushes.
