Life class 101

“We need a mandatory class in high school for all students that teaches basic finance and life skills.”

In my thirty years as an educator, I’ve heard many suggestions from people outside education about what “schools should really be doing.” Ideas range from personal finance to basic household maintenance to interpersonal communication and letter writing. It surprises me how many people are upset that “kids today can’t change a tire or balance their checkbook anymore.” I smile and nod politely as I struggle to remember where my checkbook even is or whether I’ve changed a tire since I was about sixteen.

Sometimes these concerns rise to the legislative and policy-making level, as in Oklahoma which last year proposed a law requiring all high schools to teach a class called “Adulting 101.” Yes, the term adult has now become a verb, and apparently there’s a curriculum that will teach everything a person needs to do to become a licensed practicing adult. The proposed class covered all manner of useful life skills from finance to home repair, and it pledged to teach young people all the soft skills they will need to be successful adults.

Granted, there is value in teaching the basics of personal finance, especially for young people going off to college or entering the workforce. My daughter was genuinely shocked when we received the long-term payments for her college loan offer recently. “How is it even possible?” she reasonably wondered, that people end up paying so much in interest to borrow money. And she’s an honors student who has taken AP micro and macro economics. When the theoretical becomes personal, and young people face the prospect of incurring five and six-figure debt by the time they’re twenty-years old, the intricacies of high finance become all too real.

That said, no high school class will magically prepare students for all the challenges they will face in their adult lives. Schools could devote a semester or a year to teach teenagers about variable interest rates and escrow, about compound interest and mortgage deductions, about all the byzantine intricacies of their credit card agreements. But that would be as big a waste of time as teaching all kids to change a tire or install a dishwasher. In reality, no one will remember those details years later, any more than they remember the plot of the Great Gatsby, the dates of major battles in all of America’s wars, or the countless formulas from algebra and physics class. When a consumer takes out a loan to buy a house or a car, they want to know and understand one thing – what’s the monthly payment.

People believe students need a financial literacy class so they can understand the economy and make wise decisions about credit and interest rates and risk. Yet, wasn’t the housing and subprime crash of 2008 fueled by people who knew finance better than anyone? They still made bad decisions. Studying government for a semester doesn’t make people better citizens, nor does a couple years of world language make people fluent. And no one learns to change their oil anymore because they don’t need to. In fact, with computerized cars and hybrid-electric models, it’s almost impossible for car owners to tinker with the engine anymore.

For as long as schools have existed, students have inevitably asked, “When am I going to use this?” For most content, the answer is likely never. School is not simply a utilitarian training course of useful skills that barely require a twenty-minute tutorial, much less a semester class. Few of us ever use much of the information we encountered in twelve years of public school. But we all use the well-developed brains and temperaments that were cultivated during the long process of growing up and going to school.

A classical liberal arts ed-

C Nversations

ucation, upon which modern school systems are grounded, is in fact Life 101. It’s about working with people, meeting responsibilities, opening the mind to new ideas, learning foundational theories and skills. Requiring a class like “Life 101” to teach check balancing and tire changing is based on the naive belief that education is simply utilitarian, practical, and indelible. And expecting that once we learn something we never forget it is completely unrealistic. So, the next time someone suggests young people need a class in Life Skills 101, remind them we already have one. It’s called the K12 education system and simply growing up.

Michael P. Mazenko is a writer, educator, & school administrator in Greenwood Village. He blogs at A Teacher’s View and can be found on Twitter @mmazenko. You can email him at mmazenko@ gmail.com

Arapahoe County

Time to hit the trails!

Lace up your sneaks for a timed 5K trail run presented by Les Schwab Tires, beginning at Tagawa Gardens and running along the Cherry Creek Regional Trail. Funds support trail maintenance and Arapahoe County Open Spaces. Includes dinner, craft beer or sports drink, and live music at the finish line. Walkers and all ages welcome!

Thursday, August 24, 2023 | 5:30–7:30 p.m.

Get details: arapahoecountyeventcenter.com/ 5ktrailrun

Help expand awareness of drug abuse and overdose

International Overdose Awareness Day is a global event held on Aug. 31 that aims to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death. It also acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends by remembering those who have died or had a permanent injury as a result of a drug overdose.

Visit overdoseday.com

Bring a picnic, blankets and lawn chairs, and enjoy a movie under the stars at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds in Aurora. Featuring “Back to the Future” on Sept. 7 and “Maverick” on Sept. 14, with pre-movie activities, giveaways, and live entertainment. Screenings are in partnership with Arapahoe Libraries.

Tickets are $5 online / $7 at the door. 2 & under free. Details and tickets at arapahoecountyeventcenter.com/picturesontheplains

Visit

Received the sad news that longtime Greenwood Village resident John Fielder, now residing amidst the magnificent Colorado Rocky Mountains in Summit County, has succumbed to pancreatic cancer at age 73.

I treasure my Fielder books of majestic mountains. Among my favorite of his massive works of 200,000 negatives is the book, “Colorado 1870 to 2000.” He explored the exact locations of 19th century photographer William Henry Jackson when Colorado was still a territory with 39,864 residents, mostly miners seeking gold. Fielder photographed the locations of Jackson’s

Geological Survey photos and created a twin comparison at the start of the 21st century when the state had reached a population of 4.3 million.

BY BOB SWEENEY

He has donated a massive collection of 6,000 photos to History Colorado and the people of Colorado. History Colorado had a Fielder exhibition in July of his favorite places entitled, “Revealed.”

Fielder is survived by his two daughters Ashley and Katy and six grandchildren. His wife Gigi succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease in 2006 and he lost his son J.T. in 2006.

It would be a nice gesture for Cancer League of Colorado to honor

Fielder at their next annual Hope Ball. John Fielder is certainly deserving of the accolades. Memorial contributions may be made to the Sierra Club, Conservation Colorado, Colorado Open Lands, and Save the Colorado.

A private family memorial will be held in the future.

Rest is peace John Fielder.

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Another community leader and educator, former Cherry Creek and Denver School Superintendent Richard P. Koeppe passed away March 3, 2023. He was one of many outstanding Cherry Creek School Superintendents that made “Blue Ribbon,” CCSD one of the best school districts in the United States. “Dick” Koeppe’s continuing career led him to also become Superintendent for Denver Public Schools where he exceled.

He is survived by his wife, Lucretia; and three adult children, Julie, Erik, and John and three grandchildren Jonah, Sophie, and Noah. Dick requested that no public service be held. He is interred at Fairmount Cemetery. His many students, teachers, and friends pay him high homage for his service.

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