This class is designed to give students an opportunity to learn about and discuss many of the important topics that impact their lives as teenagers and middle school students.

Study Skills

Students review and work through a handbook full of ideas that can help them improve their own learning and get better grades.  A number of the ideas presented are practiced and then required throughout the rest of the course.  These study skills concepts are reinforced with information about the impact education (or the lack of it) can have in a person's life.

Adolescence

Did you know that the time of life we call adolescence didn't really exist just a few hundred years ago? Through this unit, students will gain an understanding of the feelings and attitudes they have in their own teen years by looking at how teenagers lived in the past.  This historical perspective will include some assigned reading and research, and will shed light on things teens can do today to make the transition to adulthood easier. 

Additionally, we will examine many of the dangers that teens face today that jeopardize their chances for a successful transition to adulthood.  Drugs, crime, gangs, violence, and dropping-out of school all hurt our students.  Discussing these risky behaviors will be done within the context of learning about the history and origins of adolescence.  Understanding that historical perspective will help students understand the "appeal" to many teens for rebellious and dangerous behaviors.  This gives our students an added edge in making an informed decision as risky situations are presented to them.

Careers

Students will learn the six Holland Career Personality types, and discover which ones most closely describe who they are.  Students will then use this information to investigate career fields and figure out how much education is required for jobs in their areas of interest.  A project paper with all their findings will be required.