Dear Secretary Dr. Miguel Cardona,

Hello, I am Maddie, a high school senior at Marist School in Atlanta, Georgia. As an almost college student expected to be an adult soon, I have realized just how little I know about how to live in college and the real world outside high school. The bubble of high school halts teenagers from becoming adults, as proven by the numerous students with limited life skills, including myself. 

My parents have recently realized this and made me a mile-long list of things I must accomplish and know before college so I am well prepared. The problem is that over half of the list used to be taught in high school, in a class called Home Economics. I am here asking for a modern spin, a course that combines home economics, mental health practices, time management, and finance.

While high schools focus on academic subjects like math and science, little emphasis is placed on teaching essential life skills that students will need in real life beyond high school, and they should be taught such skills in a required high school course. 

You enter your favorite class of the day, a classroom with ovens, refrigerators, sewing machines, and big work desks: Home Economics. It’s the one class during the day where you are confident that whatever you learn will be useful in real life, regardless of your future career. Everyone has different interests: your table partner Mollie wants to be a child psychologist, Preston wants to be a financial manager, Camden an art teacher, and Hampton a pilot. Looking around, only a few have the same interests as you, but everyone finds value in the lessons taught in the classroom.

Home Economics used to be a required class for high schoolers. Students would learn cooking, sewing, budgeting, nutrition, organization, home maintenance, and more. After some time, the class was considered ancient, traditional, and unnecessary. But now unfortunately, there are generations of students who still need but lack the basic capabilities that stopped being taught. 

There is truly little emphasis on teaching essential life skills, and this gap leads to unnecessary stress, confusion, and poor decision making once students enter adulthood.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a newspaper in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, recently interviewed a teacher to prove why these classes are still essential. Carolyn Debord, a home economics teacher at Cherokee High School, taught for 26 years and  started teaching when her “profession was revered.” She taught until she felt her class was becoming too phased out to continue, arguing that “the public doesn’t see us for what we really do.”

However, Debord argues, as I do, that life skills classes are crucial, now more than ever. If students “flunk these classes, they flunk life,” as Debord said. Sound harsh?

According to the interview, home economics is the only class that emphasizes family and personal life, which helps people succeed in a career, and the phasing out of this class means that students stopped learning basic skills. Only then did educators realize these lessons were vital. 

The early 2000s were all about eliminating Home Economics and life skills classes. A modern century, however, does not mean a foundational curriculum is unnecessary. I understand that home ec was removed to make more room for core classes. I understand math and science are a big emphasis in education right now and are essential graduation requirements. My proposed class, however, would be added as a graduation requirement, therefore not taking any emphasis away from math or science and current required classes.

I understand it is not easy to create classes and change school curriculum. I am not arguing for copy-and-paste home ec classes. However, I am asking for a combination class of the best skills learned in Home Economics, such as mental health practices, time management, and personal finance. 

While I also respect the concern of not having enough impactful curriculum for the class I am suggesting, I believe it can be easily solved. The course would include presenters from college and community organizations or professionals to provide “TED talks.” These talks could become part of the curriculum for classes to watch and provide another way to connect the class to the community, covering topics like mental health, perseverance, and overcoming struggles. 

My proposal is not solely addressed to you although some might believe I am placing the burden of responsibility on leading educational policymakers. But no. I call upon everyone to act: school administrators and curriculum developers who determine the focus of education, high school teachers who could integrate life skills into existing lessons, parents, community organizations, school boards, and leaders who allocate resources and create programs for education, and state and federal
policymakers who should advocate for changes in educational standards.

High school education needs mandatory life skills classes, and satisfying this urgent need is not the burden of one person or group of people.

Life skills that were once common knowledge due to being taught in Home Economics have been lost along with the disappearance of the class. As one of countless high school seniors who feel lost and unsure how to go about real life in college and beyond, please advocate for us and create required life skills classes in the high school curriculum. 

A set class should be required in junior or senior year to equip students to enter the real world successfully, a place where they can acquire the tools and knowledge to rely on when things go wrong.

Calculus won’t help young adults when their car fails. Chemistry formulas are useless when people get sick or lost. Geometry won’t help with anxiety, and knowing the names of French presidents won’t help when graduates struggle to manage their money.

All those A’s on tests and quizzes students  worked so hard for  are worthless when real life tests you. Isn’t that what high school should be preparing young adults for? Real life?

It starts with everyone, especially policymakers, educators, and community organizations creating required life skills classes in high school. Because what better way to prepare young adults for real life than by teaching them life skills?