A few years ago, Central added an Independent Living class to its list of electives. The goal was to provide students with a wide range of real-world skills and empower them to utilize their available resources to become more self-sufficient in the future. The class includes subjects relating to everything from basic care and safety around outdoor power equipment to the basics of food and kitchen safety.
Along the way, students are assigned to prepare a basic meal for the class and discuss the cost of it with the class. Other hands-on activities related to car inspections. Students become familiar with the systems of vehicles, check fluids, perform a tire change, get to know common tools, and much more. The class also includes some around-the-house do-it-yourself skill-building activities.
These include constructing miniature walls, doing some basic drywall work, and general concepts related to plumbing and electrical. In addition to the hands-on shop tasks, students also work on resumes, communication skills, information relating to insurance, and much more. There are currently over 50 students in Mr. Mesik’s Independent Living classes.
In this photo: seniors Samantha Krohn and Josie Beneke perform the tire-changing task in Independent Living class.
Here Juniors Alec Minkel and Roman Holland prepare some food as part of the Independent Living meal project assignment.
