Lubbock High is a great school that offers many classes and opportunities for students, however, I believe that Lubbock High has potential to help offer students more classes that teach them beneficial life skills.

One class I think would be nice to have is Native American History. When learning about the history of our nation, Native American Indians are always forgotten and given the short end of the stick. We have World History, U.S. History, Texas History, but no Native American History. They were the first people to step foot on this land, but the only thing that people seem to remember about them is that they were killed and forcibly removed from their land. Yes, that happened, and it was a big part of US history, but Native American history and culture was different from ours and we shouldn’t just focus on the negative aspects of their lives. If we are to focus on the rise and accomplishments of our nation and her people, why shouldn’t Native Americans be included in that circle?

Taxes Education would also be a nice class to have, and an important one. Although learning about money should start at home, not many students are fortunate enough to get early personal finance education. The importance of handling money is obviously a very valuable skill whether it is accounting, finance, or budgeting. If they could at least teach on interest rates alone then that could help students from future financial blunders. The job of these classes is to prepare students for working environments and or managing their own finances.

There aren’t a lot of classes that prepare you for the in-betweens of the future, but an Etiquette class could. Like taxes and money, some believe that etiquette and manners should be taught at home, however I believe that it would be more beneficial for the students at Lubbock high if they were taught by professionals. Whether it is students in regular classes, AP classes, or IB classes, they are still children and lack an understanding of respect and dignity whether it is for the school, teachers or themselves. Not all students however are necessarily disrespectful or lack manners, but the amount of students that do not have these qualities that are in every classroom. Learning etiquette is not just a class for privileged or exclusive students but rather for everyone. Etiquette can help students develop into more mature and respectable students and the skills can even be used later in life when they are navigating professional situations.

Self Defense could also be an important class to include on your schedule. Lubbock High isn’t located in the best neighborhood and, frankly, many of the students don’t have the greatest backgrounds either. There is constant fighting and threats from and towards students whether they are the instigators or innocent bystanders. If we taught self defense to students then we could prevent more fights and injuries. A student’s safety should be our first priority and self defense classes can ensure that, and if violence is a problem parents would´t have to worry, because not all martial arts involve violence. Jiu Jitsu is a form of martial arts that does not involve violence or attacking, but rather getting out of headlocks or blocking and protecting yourself properly. If classes like this were taught at Lubbock High, not only could students learn how to defend themselves, but teachers and staff could also learn to help protect students from threats or intruders and protect themselves.

If Lubbock High pushed itself to help students learn just a few of these subjects, some students could use information from these classes to their advantage in the future. Instead of being taught enough to advance to the next grade, we could be taught to grow into well-educated and mindful adults.