Upon finishing one’s junior year of high school, students would benefit from a life skills curriculum. The Texas State Board of Education should rewrite the TEKS for Grade 12, calling on input from teachers, counselors, administrators and community in planning a strategy that would see less senioritis and a more common-sense approach to educating those who are on the cusp of leaving home.
• Grade 12 will begin at 8:30 a.m. and go until 12:30 p.m. (breakfast at 8 and lunch at noon)
• Grade 12 will include four quarters of education, not two semesters (nine weeks per quarter)
• Seniors will be released at 12:30 to work on campus, work at jobs off campus, or take college classes online or in-person if available before going to after-school extracurricular activities when in season.
• Grade 12 curriculum will consist of classroom instruction/classroom participation/ field trips/final projects in each of the following areas. Each school district has the autonomy to decide what vocational skills are most suited for the demographics of their students (farming, ranching, oilfield, landscaping, trucking, service industries, etc.)
• August-October: financial planning investing, saving, insurance, taxes, cost of living; home economic skills cooking, laundry, basic sewing, ironing, parenting classes
• November-December: financial planning bank accounts, car purchases, renting and buying options, avoiding scams; career exploration employees of a variety of jobs talking to class, former student testimonials, internships, or on-the-job shadowing with interested companies/businesses/vocations
• January-February: health and well-being mental/physical/emotional health instruction by professionals; genealogy studies to learn about family health history; do-it-yourself repair and maintenance vehicle, household appliances, small motors, etc.
• March-April: gardening vegetable gardens and flower bed and lawn care; history/music/film/art school approved texts/songs/movies to inspire, inform, and entertain and provide opportunities to create art in one of these forms
• May: community or country service one community service project completed to satisfactory standards before the Monday prior to graduation; individual projects only
Of course, developing this free-from-homework curriculum would require a thorough logistical blueprint in terms of student accountability and organization. It would take a resolute staff to bring the idea to fruition. Parts of this idea are already implemented in larger schools and in FFA programs. Ideally, having the entire senior year focus exclusively on life skills could be one of few risks and optimal rewards.
Parents and students concerned about rigor and college prep would still have the afternoons open for academic enhancement through college classes and ample time for multiple college campus visits.
To fund this type of program throughout the state, I suggest dropping the over-emphasis on standardized testing and use that budget item to assist with creating a better curriculum model for our high school seniors. According to a Texas Tribune article in January 2021, TEA contracted with Cambium Assessment in Washington, D.C., and Pearson (a Londonbased company) to develop and administer the STAAR exams from 2021 to 2024—to the tune of $338 million.
Learning should be practical and fun. That’s when the lessons stick. Providing students this type of academic schedule could be the catalyst for them to build and sustain healthy life choices.
Snyder, Texas, native Sue Jane Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher whose thought-provoking commentary appears occasionally in several West texas newspapers, including The Texas Spur and The Caprock Courier.
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