Relevant and meaningful schools? Here's one idea.

As an educator, it can be infuriating to read the “What they SHOULD have taught me in high school” memes. You know the ones where a disgruntled former student decries that they were not taught how to do taxes, change a tire on a car, take out a loan, or write a resume and cover letter. The frustrating part of this is the fact that literally all of these things are taught at our high school in a variety of classes. A former classmate from Owatonna even had the gall to post some variation of this meme on Facebook, prompting a challenge from me. Other classmates chimed in, describing how all of those things were taught, but it was up to us to actually learn them. The classmate who originally posted it said she just liked the meme.

Thanks. Thanks a lot for perpetuating the tired idea that our schools don’t really teach anything of value or substance for, you know, real life.

So I was quick to feel my blood pressure rise when a class began to lament how school wasn’t really teaching them anything of value like how to do their taxes, change a tire, or write a resume. I calmly corrected them and informed them that they could learn all of these things in classes offered right here in their school. They knew all that, but said it was difficult to fit all of those different classes into their schedule in order to get all of the things students need to know as they head out into the world after high school.

That really stuck with me. Despite our best efforts to provide important skills to our students, they were not able to learn all of them because of the problem of fitting everything into their schedules along with all of the other requirements. The answer, they said, was to offer a class called “Life.”

To be honest, I do think they were regurgitating some form of this meme that they had seen. However, the idea does have some merit. I decided to brainstorm skills that they would like to learn if we were to offer this “Life Skills” class and my students did not disappoint. Here is the list we came up with:

• Basic auto maintenance, such as how to check fluids, change oil, check tire pressure, and change a flat tire
• How to sew on a button or fix a zipper
• Taxes and finance, such as how to do their taxes, how to take out a loan for a car or house, and how much it would cost them over the life of the loa
• How to write a resume, cover letter, and interview for a job
• How to perform CPR, and perhaps become a certified First Responder
• Survival skills, such as how to start a fire without any “cheats”
• Etiquette in formal situations, such as fancy dining
• Winter survival like layering clothes and packing a survival kit for the car
• Etiquette while communicating via voice on the phone
• How to pay a parking or speeding ticket along with how to dispute it
• How to do laundry
• Perils of credit cards
• How to find low cost or free entertainment
• Self defense
• Firearm training

Again, our school does teach most of these to some extent, but they are in a wide variety of classes. The idea that these classes are available but not fully accessible is something that had not crossed my mind. Teaching this class would appeal to me, though I don’t think I would be great in all areas. Perhaps students would take this class for a semester, rotating between teachers every 2-3 weeks to learn these skills. It is an idea that could work, would be a benefit to our students as they graduate from our school, and would show that we are responsive to their needs.

You know, all the things those memes and critics claim we do not do.