Teens learn careers can follow rocky paths
January 7, 2009
By Brenda Rader Mross
The Wellington
Today’s teen living course is not your, or your mother’s, home economics class. Neither is the life of today’s teenager the same as his or her ancestors.
Like its predecessors, the teen living class at Wellington (Colorado) Junior High School attempts to help students develop basic adult life skills, but with less emphasis on domestic duties and more on career and communications.
According to first-year teacher Aaron Jackson, one day he may be dishing out information on relationships to his class, and the next day the class is dishing up chicken enchiladas or tortilla pizza. Recently, high school students visited Jackson’s class to discuss sexual harassment, particularly pertaining to dating.
“But we still make cookies in here, of course,” Jackson said. “The coolest part about that isn’t them slaving away but seeing the kids’ faces light up when a teacher tells them how much we enjoyed them.”
Nutrition is a big part of Jackson’s message when it comes to cooking and food. The 40-member class just watched the 2004 documentary film “Super Size Me,” in which actor/director Morgan Spurlock subsists exclusively on McDonald’s fare for a month.
Jackson confirms Spurlock’s assertion that some people, including some teenagers, don’t take their eating habits seriously.
“It’s almost a form of rebellion — like they’re living dangerously via junk food,” noted Jackson. “Some will say, ‘I ate at McDonald’s three times this weekend,’ like they’re proud of it. But I think more are on track to understanding proper nutrition.”
He also believes most are getting the fact that not everyone can be in charge.
“I’ve got ‘captains’ for some things, which teaches the value of how it takes leaders and workers to fill roles,” Jackson explained. “Most teens are still figuring out their identity. This may be the first time they realized they are good at something like leadership — or not.”
Jackson makes career exploration more realistic for students by having them research the local outlook for viable jobs in the future.
“There’s not a big call for oceanographers in the area, for example,” Jackson said. “We did discover that nursing is an amazing field of opportunities.”
The best thing about the teen living class, according to Jackson, is everyone’s positive attitude.
“Kids say all the time, ‘This isn’t learning; this isn’t school,’” Jackson said. “We really do have fun.”
Jackson said he knew he had something in teen living when three boys and three girls were sipping hot tea and cocoa and having “a very appropriate conversation” as they worked on their sewing projects.
The ongoing joke for last semester’s class was every time students asked, “What are we going to do today?” Jackson would offhandedly reply, “Paint rocks.”
When Jackson found out local artist Regina Connelly actually does paint rocks, he invited her to demonstrate. Now what? “Boulders and mountainsides?” Jackson answered.
Jackson was a manager at Austin’s American Grill and opened their Harmony Road location before switching to teaching.
“I decided if I was going to be stressed out, I may as well be helping people,” he said. “Really, it’s not all that different. It all comes down to people and honoring their differences whether it’s with the wait staff or in the classroom.”
Jackson also teaches geography and history, as well as an after-school cooking class. And, yes, the 34-year-old took traditional home economics as a teen.
