HOLLY POND, Ala. – On Thursday, May 2, seniors at Holly Pond High School were peppered with lessons on how to be an adult in today’s world. The series of courses was dubbed Adulting 101; the students were shown aspects of finance, professionalism, lawn and auto care, childcare and many more skills that are necessary to be fully self-sufficient and functioning adults.
Holly Pond Principal Nate Ayers said he saw the Adulting 101 courses come to fruition in his days at Etowah High School, where he had firsthand experience seeing how the classes can prepare students for life. When the opportunity arose to implement the course at Holly Pond, Ayers said, he jumped at the opportunity.
“The kids were skeptical, because we took their seven-class day and turned it into a 14-class day,” Ayers shared. “I think it was a very, very successful day for our first go-around and moving forward, we will continue to make it better.”
Beginning at 8:30 a.m. and continuing until the end of the school day, students were broken into groups to begin sessions with local professionals and business owners, focusing on individual tasks and skills at each stop. The separate stations were voted on by the community, through a survey that Ayers sent out in January. From that, 14 topics were chosen by community members, students and families. Ayers then reached out to various local individuals to make connections with leaders and business owners that could speak to the seniors about those topics. Most of the day’s presenters were former Holly Pond High School students, including Heath Albright, Lesli Faulkner and Kelly Duke.
Noting that this could potentially become an annual event, Ayers said future Adulting 101 Days will only grow in size and importance.
Ayers expressed gratitude for the community, stating, “We could not have done any of this without the willingness of our community to give us ideas and the willingness of our stakeholders to volunteer and give up their time to come and give back to our school.”
Community volunteers included:
- Kerry Neighbors- Debt and loans
- Kalysha Whittle- Newborn care
- Kelly Duke- Voting and taxes
- Lesli Faulkner- Budgeting
- Rodney Hays- CPR
- Eli Howard- Credit building
- Heath Albright- Business and Investments
- Richard Widner- Stock market
- David Wiggins- Interview skills
- White Pine Designscapes- Lawn care
- Stephanie Buchanan- Rent, lease and buy
- Jason Simpson- Professionalism and how to tie a tie
- Holly Pond Tire and Lube- Auto care
- Tessa Brewer- Insurance
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