by Bridget Cook ’14 and Daniel Hatfield ’13

Sherwood prides itself on offering and encouraging an abundance of highly advanced courses which are advertised as beneficial for the future. However, classes that don’t focus on typical “college-ready” subjects but more practical subject matter are treated as inferior or unnecessary. If students are not equipped with basic real-world skills such as personal finance preparedness and an understanding of the economy as well as drivers education, they are hardly benefited.

Today, there is an alarming lack of financial literacy taught in school. It’s commonly argued that the subject matter is useless, and kids will pick up basic money management skills on their own. However, true financial literacy is much more than just knowing how to balance a checkbook. It is in-depth knowledge of how the economy operates, how to make intelligent monetary decisions and how to handle debt and taxes.

Currently, only one financial literacy course is offered at Sherwood. What’s worse is that it’s mainly intended for seniors who fail other math classes, and is rarely considered by most students. Teaching the mechanics of money in today’s faltering economy should be a top priority for schools. Financial literacy should not be viewed as a last resort or a class for underachievers, but emphasized as a chance to gain valuable knowledge outside the textbook.

Drivers Education faces a similar situation regarding its prominence in Montgomery County schools. The in-school Driver’s Education program was eliminated from MCPS around the mid-90s to supposedly cut costs. Instead, students who hold a learner’s permit are required to find a Motor Vehicles Administration-approved driving school and shell out a good deal of money for both classroom and behind the wheel instruction, if they want a license. Drivers Ed was one of the most useful classes available, seeing as students could take the skills learned in class with them after graduation. It just makes sense to provide in-school Drivers Ed. By providing this class countywide, MCPS would be able to standardize the lessons that students are learning, because I Drive Smart might not teach the exact way as Good Start Driving School. Standardization would also lessen the  failure rate for first time in car test-takers since students would be coming from similar backgrounds, and therefore would have the same test specific training.

If MCPS were to reintroduce Driver’s Ed, it would save families large sums of money, and save students from being forced to spend more time out of school in a classroom.

While the core subjects offered in school are obviously beneficial, it seems to be forgotten that there is life after high school. Turning students loose with little knowledge beyond Algebra equations and Shakespeare will not provide the head start that high school is expected to give. In order to solidify truly successful futures for students, there needs to be a balance of typical knowledge as well as the information that will make them real-world savvy.

nd Daniel Hatfield