Every weekday, students spend about seven hours in school learning subjects like math, science and history. From kindergarten through high school, much of students’ early lives are centered around academic learning. But an important question remains: Does school fully prepare students for life outside the classroom?
Beth Long (she/her), Family Consumer Science (FCS) teacher at Liberty, teaches several classes focused on practical skills, including Child Development I, Culinary Arts I, Culinary Arts II, Intro to FCS and Housing and Interior Design.
“Our classes have an immediate connection from the classroom to the outside world,” Long said. “Everyone is going to eat, so it’s in your best interest to learn how to cook for yourself and take care of yourself.”
In Culinary Arts, students learn a variety of life skills that may not always be emphasized in traditional academic subjects, including skills such as time management, technical reading and responsibility.
“There are no passes in Culinary Arts,” Long said. “Your product has to be done, your dishes have to be cleaned and your kitchen has to be checked before you can leave. Time management is a skill set we all need.”
Reading is often an overlooked skill in a class like Culinary Arts, but it remains just as relevant.
“Sometimes students jump to the conclusion that they already know how to do something. But taking the time to read thoroughly and not just skim is really important,” Long said.
While academic knowledge is essential, many students say that real-world skills as an adult are just as important. The debate between academic preparedness and real-life preparedness has become increasingly common among students and educators.
Marjorie Lane (she/her), also teaches several FCS courses. This year, Lane teaches Child Development 2, Culinary Arts 3 and Kirkwood Behavior Management, and has also taught Exploring Teaching, Child Development 1, Culinary Arts 1 and Textiles and Design.
The hands-on nature of FCS classes allows students to practice real-world applications in ways that traditional classes sometimes cannot.
“We have a lot of real-world application scenarios, case studies that you can work through and apply, but it’s also just that hands-on approach,” Lane said. “You don’t get that opportunity in those other classes as much.”
Many of the skills students learn in these courses revolve around preparation, planning and responsibility.
“You can’t just jump into a sewing project,” Lane said. “There’s preparation. You have to plan for what you want the outcome to be. In a food lab, you need to read your recipe and prep your ingredients before you start cooking.”
These kinds of structured activities often reveal areas where students need practice.
“Sometimes it’s just time management,” Lane said. “You might think you have so many days to get an assignment or project done, but that time creeps up on you fast.”
Even so, Lane says the experiences students gain in these classes reach far beyond the classroom environment.
“They’re not only skills that we are going to need as consumers, family members, partners, but they are all skills that can link to almost any type of career that you can think of,” Lane said. “I don’t expect all of my culinary students to become chefs and cooks, but there’s a lot of problem-solving, critical thinking skills and teamwork that’s involved with our hands-on opportunities.”
For many educators, helping students develop independence is one of the most important outcomes of these programs.
“When you graduate, you want to be an independent young person,” Long said. “Not having some of these skill sets means you may always have to rely on someone else.”
Business courses also aim to bridge that gap by teaching practical skills students can use in everyday life. Through lessons on financial literacy, budgeting and career readiness, attempting to prepare students for challenges beyond graduation.
Mark Langenfeld (he/him), teaches many business classes at Liberty; including Marketing and Sales, Accounting I, Advanced Accounting and Personal Finance. Langenfeld believes these skills are essential for students regardless of their future career paths.
“The classes that I teach are some of the most important in the school, because no matter who you are or what you want to do, you’re going to be working a job and interacting with businesses,” Langenfeld said. “The class that every student should take in high school is personal finance.”
Financial literacy is vital for students, equipping them with essential money management skills before they enter adulthood and encounter complex financial decisions.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that if you earn money, you can just spend it all,” Langenfeld said. “Emergencies and unexpected events happen all the time, so it’s important to know how to save and prepare for those situations.”
In Personal Finance, students complete projects focused on budgeting, credit and long-term financial planning.
“Budgeting is kind of a huge part of the entire course,” Langenfeld said. “Students create a final budgeting project based on the career they want, where they want to live and what their lifestyle might look like.”
Although taking this class may be beneficial to students, a single trimester of financial education is not always enough to fully prepare them.
“Even those that take my personal finance class —twelve weeks is not enough time to cover everything students need to know.”
Despite the limited time, Langenfeld encourages students to begin building good financial habits early on.
“If you are working a job, find a way to save part of that money,” Langenfeld said. “When you’re young and you don’t have as many expenses, saving and investing early can make a huge difference later in life.”
While financial responsibility can set students up for long-term stability, personal growth is just as important in shaping their future.
“A life skill every student needs is learning about themselves,” Long said. “Walking out of high school more confident in who you are is something you’ll want to take with you wherever you go.”
