SCiLL partners with rural high school for Adulting 101
The pilot class at J.F. Webb in Granville County included a civics unit led by Carolina faculty.
“But when am I ever going to use this in real life?”
That’s one question high school students don’t ask in Ready for Life: Adulting 101 at J.F. Webb High School in Oxford, North Carolina.
Watch the students of J.F. Webb High School on their first visit to Carolina.
Preparing students for working, living independently and being citizens is the whole point of the 14-student pilot class, which included a civics section taught by faculty and students from Carolina’s School of Civic Life and Leadership and an April 24 field trip to Chapel Hill.
“They’re getting ready to vote for the first time. They’re learning about their duties, their responsibilities,” said Jed Atkins, SCiLL dean and director. “That’s what we mean by self-governance: to make decisions for themselves, to rule themselves and to be active and engaged citizens in our democracy. It’s at the heart of what SCiLL is. And I think it’s also at the heart of what Carolina is.”
The pilot proved so popular that it will be expanded next year. Both Webb and South Granville High School will offer classes in the fall and spring semesters.
“When the college professors come, it gives us a different look outside regular high school courses,” said Webb junior Jasey Lee, who wants to be a teacher. “These professors coming in, talking about their classes — it makes me want to go to college.”
“I think the time is right, honestly, to rethink the way we do civic education,” said Jed Atkins, SCiLL dean. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Carolina alumnus Rob Rivers, a former Granville County school board member and “a real champion for the students,” pitched the idea for the class, said Granville County school superintendent Stan Winborne. After some brainstorming with Atkins, they roughed out an elective with units on employment, financial literacy and living skills as well as citizenship.
“They are really learning how to become a responsible and productive adult,” Winborne said.
The 23-year veteran teacher selected for the class, Wendi Leas, usually teaches biomedical sciences. But she put together a course that covered budgeting, job applications, household management and even automotive services.
Students researched a profession, then figured out if they could afford to pay rent, buy groceries and get to work on their starting salary. “They learned a lot,” Leas said. “They have a great appreciation for money right now and how to be a good employee.”
SCiLL associate professor Rita Koganzon drafted a syllabus for the civics unit that combined primary texts with “more nitty-gritty, daily life ways that even a 16- or 17-year-old’s life would intersect with some of these bigger concepts” — getting a driver’s license, coaching Little League, serving on a board or committee, reporting for jury duty.
Civics is not just voting or protesting, Koganzon said. “It’s all this positive work that people do all the time to make communal life better.”
J.F. Webb students get a warm welcome from RJ during their visit to Carolina. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Local guest speakers enhanced those lessons. The county board of elections director talked about voting, and the assistant district attorney discussed jury duty and coached students through a mock trial about a cheating ring in a fictional high school.
“I learned more about life outside of class,” said Webb senior Britany Mendoza. “The guest speakers really interacted with us.”
Students, teachers and administrators alike appreciated the partnership with Carolina and the resources shared with Granville County Public Schools. The system qualifies for the federal Community Eligibility Provision, which allows high-poverty schools and districts to provide breakfast and lunch at no charge to all students.
“We couldn’t do this class without the partnership,” Winborne said.
For his part, Atkins welcomed the chance to teach civics in a new way.
“We’re taking civics away from the dry facts in a textbook and putting primary texts like the Constitution hand in glove with life skills and life knowledge,” he said. “That’s a powerful part of this course. I think the time is right, honestly, to rethink the way we do civic education.”
