In school, students learn about polynomials, but when tax season comes around polynomials are not going to do students any favors. Many years ago there was a class at Triton called family and consumer science where students would learn how to cook, clean, and take care of children. Ms. Kathryn Dawe, the principal at Triton, said: “the class is wonderful and students can benefit from it.” Three students at Triton feel that a home economics class or life skills class would be valuable.

“It would be good to learn how to cook healthy food, do my taxes, and other stuff. I think it’s important to become independent and be able to do ‘adult stuff,’” said junior Emily Colby.

In only a few years many of the students at Triton will be in college. The next step after college is entering the real world and getting a job. Having the knowledge and ability to cook meals, do laundry, clean one’s house/ apartment, do taxes, learn how to do a job interview, learn how to apply for a job, and manage finances are all skills we will need in the real world. Having a class that teaches these skills would be useful for any circumstance, some students say.

Junior, Kerry Power, said, “I do think it [a life skills class] is a good idea for people, even if they do not go into the real world right away.”

¨I want to learn how to prepare meals and pick out food or produce at Market Basket. Also, learning how to tell when food has gone sour would be an excellent skill to learn when I do plan to make meals,¨ said, junior, Jordan Frasca.

One reason why “we [Triton] got rid of the class because there was not enough time during school hours and in the schedule, especially with the state increasing requirements for getting a diploma,” said Dawe.

Another main reason why Triton has not been able to bring back its ¨life skills¨ class is because this type of non-academic class is expensive. A teacher alone would cost around $75,098; according to Niche.com, the average teacher salary in Triton Regional School District is $75,098.

One way for Triton to possibly be able to have a life skills class that teaches “real-world” skills would be if there were an after-school program or a co-curricular activity. Dawe says, “I think it would be nice for the classes to come back.¨

A survey was done in 2016, by The University of Michigan where over 1,100 people across the U.S. were surveyed on their thoughts on a home economics class. The results of the survey were that ¨requiring schools to teach cooking as part of health education was supported by 64 percent of the public, and mandatory home economics courses focused on teaching how to cook and shop for health food were supported by 67 percent of respondents in the study.¨ This survey shows that on a national level people support home economics/ life skill classes.

Although a life skills class will not be back in the schedule for students anytime soon; students looking for ways to acquire skills that are traditionally non-academic should look into some of the business classes at Triton such as accounting and principles of finance.