Students often wonder if what they learn in school will be useful in life. While some lessons may seem abstract, many M-A students have found that school helps them develop essential social, practical, and academic skills that they use every day.
Some students apply academic skills to academic areas outside the classroom
“I calculate percentages a lot for the robotics team and when I worked over the summer with my dad in software engineering,” sophomore Parsa Adl-Tabatabai said.
“I have to calculate the area a lot for my architecture class,” sophomore Stella Mattsson.
Others apply academic lessons to home tasks.
“I pay my own bills and I use math,” freshman Anothony Santamaria said. “I use multiplication and Algebra 1 to see how many bills I have paid and how much money I have spent.”
Teachers agree about the relevance of school lessons in everyday life. “Everything we do in class is connected to issues and topics that are relevant to modern-day society, such as plastic pollution in our oceans,” Chemistry and Biotechnology teacher Rachel Richards said. “Even if students don’t pursue a career in STEM, they still benefit from the problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication skills learned from the class,” she added.
“I teach my class lateral reading or evaluating sources, which helps verify historical sources to use in research papers. Outside of class, my students and I use it to verify that websites are legit,” said AP World and US History teacher Marcus Kevorkyan.
Junior Esli Paz has found school useful for social and practical skills. “Through taking Spanish, I learned more of the language that I use when I go out with my Spanish friends and with my family, since they speak more Spanish than I do,” he said.
“In middle school, I learned how to write emails to my teachers. When I write my emails well, my teachers are more responsive and understanding,” freshman Ella Bortnik said.
Sophomore Nathan Frausta learned about safety and relationships through M-A’s Teen Talk program. “I use what they taught us in Teen Talk in real-life situations, like the do’s and don’ts in relationships,” he said.
Computer science students are taught various digital literacy skills. “We learn about how the internet works and how to keep yourself safe, through privacy, avoiding scams, and checking your sources,” sophomore Julia Maggio said.
Creativity is another skill students develop. “I learned how to express my artistic creativity through Ceramics class, which helps me in my life when I’m doing creative projects like making birthday cards,” junior Eleanor Goldman said.
Whether it’s improving communication, staying safe online, or applying math in real-world situations, students gain more from school than just grades. The skills they develop continue to shape their lives beyond the classroom.
