Fifty students were asked two questions. One was if they could complete a basic life task and the other question was a basic biology question. The questions were, “What is the powerhouse of the cell?” and “Can you change a light bulb?” More than 80 percent of students interviewed could name the powerhouse of the cell. Fewer than 60 percent of students could change a lightbulb.
With colleges getting more competitive, students have been taking more honors and AP classes and don’t have space in their schedule for a regular non-academic class. High schools across the country have home economics or home-ec but not here.
Freshman Josh Mirsky said, “I would only do a class like Family and Consumer Science or finance if it was an honors class. Nowadays weighted GPA means a lot so I would rather take a double science period. Although, I do think that like health students should be required to take finance for at least half a semester because many kids just won’t be ready for the real world after high school.”
After college, millennials have a combined average of over $28,000, in debt according to Forbes. Students don’t always know how to effectively take care of the money. This is taught in personal finance classes across the country as well as budgeting and making decisions like saving and investing.
Twenty percent of Americans don’t have retirement plans or haven’t saved any money for retirement. This is another topic that can be taught in personal finance and can save people from poverty later in life.
Students across the country complain about having too much homework and that they can’t handle their assigned workloads.
Good time management skills are important for having less stress, accomplishing more and delivering work on time. Learning good time management skills can’t one Wootton Wellness period. Learning to file taxes or cook and repair things would take a semester or more.
Sophomore Jordan Needleman said, “I would for sure do a Wootton Wellness that focus on something like cooking or building something because everyone has to use those skills at some point in their life. “For a semester or whole year class though I just can’t fit it in my schedule but it sounds very interesting and could be good for a required class will definitely be useful in life.”
Students agree that cooking and personal finance classes are something that interest them but don’t have ability to fit it into their schedule or don’t want to take a class that is not an honors class. To combat this MCPS should make these classes more rigorous with more tests for an honors class or make it required for one semester.
