January 2, 2019
By Katya Ivanenko and Shashwati Sanjay
We know that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. We can identify themes and motifs in complex texts. Some of us can even do multivariable calculus.
But how many of us can make a tuna noodle casserole, change a tire or darn a pair of socks?
Lexington High School should create classes or I Block enrichment sessions to teach life skills -- learning how to cook or do taxes would be immensely beneficial to students, especially graduating seniors who will soon need to take care of themselves.
“When we learn [the skills] earlier on, we have more time to practice them later in life,” Prakshi Kare, a freshman, said.
Exposing students to situations they could face outside of high school prepares them for the future. While not necessarily a panacea, these classes could make life down the road easier.
“Often, when high schoolers graduate, they don’t know how to use these life skills and they have trouble,” Serena Behera, a junior, said. “It would be helpful to have some hands-on practice.”
However, these classes could be costly. With a growing student population and overbooked classrooms, LHS already faces space constraints. Adding more classes to the catalogue could necessitate more teachers, more classroom space potentially with special equipment, and a whole new curriculum. But trial I Block enrichment sessions could test interest without placing an impossible burden on teachers or disrupting the ever evolving schedule.
The world-class exposure to world languages, sciences, mathematics, and the arts LHS students receive is remarkable and under-appreciated. We are excellently intellectually prepared for college and beyond, both because of the content we are taught and the diverse, tolerant setting we are taught in. But that academic preparation doesn’t obviate the need for the nitty-gritty skills we’ll use as we become adults, and for many kids, high school may be the only time and place they’ll have to learn.
This doesn’t mean we need to adopt sweeping changes, or abandon the high learning standards that has made the Lexington schools so renowned. Perhaps we can modify existing, required curricula to ameliorate this skills deficit: We could learn about taxes in math class, or learn to fix clothes in our foundations of art classes. It would be something to answer the proverbial question every student has asked him or herself at one point: When will I ever really use this?
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