WOODBURY — Throughout students’ school years, no matter what grade they’re in, they have to take a multitude of subjects. These subjects are usually some form of math, science, social studies, and so on.
We’ve all heard the refrain: only certain courses are essential to certain career fields. Despite this common mantra, students discover that all their classes address some lifelong skill that is truly essential. Many teachers echo the sentiment that every subject matters, no matter what a student chooses to do later in life.
At Nonnewaug and high schools everywhere, students need a certain number of credits from all different subjects to graduate. Students take electives that they choose to take, but they also have to take core classes that some never want to take, like math or history.
When kids say things like, this class does not matter or it’s not gonna affect my future, teachers ask students to consider the bigger picture.
“It is actually very likely you will not use the content, like the quadratic formula, that you learn,” said math teacher Ray Robillard, “but it is a certainty that you will use the skills you learn, such as perseverance, critical thinking, evaluating an argument, collaborating, etc.”
“The reality is, a lot of students miss school after they graduate, even the ones who say they dislike going or that it doesn’t matter,” said history teacher Scott Parkhouse. “Of course history class matters. If you want to get to know a person, you should understand what they have been through in their life.”
Teachers believe that even after students leave high school, they will still use skills they have learned from these classes, even if the skills aren’t objectively what the class is meant to teach.
“As a professional counselor, I use the subject matter of social science and the process of communication to help people with mental health concerns to improve their lives,” said Katy Gelinas, an EMDR therapist at Undivided Soul Counseling.
Some Nonnewaug teachers still find themselves using skills they learned decades ago in high school.
“I still use Spanish,” said Melissa Hodges, a science teacher at Nonnewaug. “We have many people in our country that speak Spanish and I am still able to read it well enough to understand it. I also write several college recommendations every year, which means I am still using what I learned in English.”
“In day-to-day life, we are constantly dealing with numbers, whether it is finances or projects around the house,” said Parkhouse, who also sees a connection between academics and life beyond high school. “So there’s math, and just reading a newspaper or something online, we use reading strategies [from] English. Going on a hike in the woods or following the weather forecast, you are using something you learned in science class.”
