Life skills must become a week-long course at Carlmont, with a traditional comprehension test the following week to ensure the class is academically rigorous and engaging.
After the week-long course, students don’t need to worry about studying techniques, goal setting, and decision-making.
Currently, life skills at Carlmont lasts one quarter and covers “mental, emotional, social, personal, and community health, as well as substance abuse,” according to Carlmont’s course catalog. Freshmen typically regard the class as “an easy A.”
On the other hand, if the course lasted a week, students would spend less than a day between the six subtopics. No more easy A’s. Sorry, class of 2029.
While students won’t gain an in-depth understanding of each topic, at least they will never get bored.
Students with higher levels of academic motivation experience lower levels of anxiety and stress, according to a study from the New York University College of Nursing.
Not only will the content of life skills 2.0 provide mental health skills, but the pace of the class will motivate students.
According to a Panorama Education and YouGov survey, nine out of 10 American adults believe that schools should teach life skills to enable students to catch up academically.
Carlmont, however, is not academically behind and ranks first in the district, according to U.S. News and World Report. Carlmont should consequently minimize life skills instruction.
After taking life skills, Carlmont students will take at least one Advanced Placement (AP) class not offered at Carlmont for the remainder of the quarter to prepare them for life after high school better.
After all, Carlmont only offers 22 out of 40 AP classes. Let me suggest AP Latin, a highly relevant course where students explore ancient Roman culture.
Whatever AP classes they decide to take, students will adopt a learn-by-doing approach. To simulate the stress level of students in grades 10 through 12, Carlmont should declare an “AP Bananza Week.”
After taking a week-long life skills course, Carlmont students will sit through five periods of AP classes and learn useful life skills simultaneously. Who needs to hear heartfelt stories on emotional health and substance abuse struggles from upperclassmen to succeed in high school?
If Carlmont is serious about ensuring academic vigor and success, life skills should last no longer than a week — maybe half a week, if you’re bold. Students will have the confidence to disregard advice from experts on topics from eating disorders to stress management.
Perhaps American novelist Gertrude Stein was correct in saying, “Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.”
Plain common sense is surely enough for Carlmont students to tackle high school.
