The school takes pride in being one of the best high schools in the nation. But after a decade of rigorous classes and schoolwork, some graduates don’t know basic skills for their upcoming adult life. Paying taxes. Changing flat tires. Cooking a meal that isn’t instant ramen. They’re not part of the school’s curriculum.
As a result, the transition between student to adult life can be harsh. Waves of new responsibilities and burdens are heaped on, requiring‘adult’ skills that students are never really taught how to handle.
“I’ve joked about doing a Home Economics class where I teach students how to write checks and balance budgets,” English Teacher and Director of the Wilderness Program Cameron Hillier said. “I felt pretty confident going forward with those skills because my parents had taught them to me.”
In Hillier’s case, he learned most of his real life skills from his parents. But for the responsibilities he wasn’t taught, he had a steep learning curve to adapt to.
“Anything that I didn’t get directly taught, I had to be self-reliant and think, ‘Well, I can figure it out,’” Hillier said. “It’s that mindset­—I am confident that if I put my mind to this, how complicated could it be?”
For some, it seems easier to just pay someone to do the taxes or change the tire.
“For changing a tire, you’re forced to experience it whenever you’re in that position,” Hillier said. “Don’t just call the (American Automobile Association). Learn how to do it yourself. That goes back to my idea of self reliance. AAA is great, but there’s a helplessness that comes with that. It’s beneficial to just learn how to do it.”
There are hundreds of minute tasks that adults eventually must learn. Cooking and driving are perfect examples. Many avoid ordering food for every meal or calling an Uber for every trip.
Both parents and schools cannot walk their students through everything. But as Hillier said, each person must have the willingness to learn.
“If you can do pre-calculus at St Mark’s, you could figure out how to write a budget,” Hillier said. “My encouragement there is that it’s not so complicated that you couldn’t figure it out if you needed to.”

On campus, students have recently gained access to learn skills that are applicable in the real world. Engineering classes in the Makerspace are perfect examples of the practical classes offered on campus.
“In seventh grade, we start off with ‘Make It, Break It, Fix It,’ where they work with soldering tools, basic electronics, some laser cutter usage and basic 3D printing,” Makerspace Director Stewart Mayer said. “Then in Engineering 8, we have a little bit more expansion on those. And then there are two single semester (electives) in upper school where students can get their hands on the more advanced parts and the more advanced tools in the makerspace, such as the CNC machines.”
This hands-on experience that the Makerspace provides is a great tool for learning in both a fun and informative way.
“Different students learn in different ways,” Mayer said. “There are a lucky few that can just look at something or read something and learn all about it, but for the 99 percent of us, actually making something teaches you so much more than you can usually just read in a book.”
In addition, the link from the Makerspace to an actual career in engineering is much more tangible than learning in a classroom. Students have the opportunity to use the same tools that professionals use. They even get the real engineering experience of trial and error.
“Things that you would never have imagined could be a problem become a problem,” Mayer said. “And that’s really what engineering is. It’s solving problems.”
Most importantly, though, the Makerspace shows that what is taught in the classroom can actually make a difference in the real world.
“Being hands on is a much more realistic experience because ultimately, we don’t want our students to go on the rest of their lives doing classroom activities to no final avail,” Mayer said. “We want them to actually put what they’ve learned to real use and come up with real products that might save real people’s lives or improve the world in a substantial way.”
And for those who are especially interested in engineering, the Makerspace provides support for anyone who is willing to put in the effort, a special opportunity that not all schools can offer.
“I was a STEM kid before the acronym STEM existed, and my teachers did not know what to do with me,” Mayer said. “Kids these days are so lucky that all of these STEM opportunities exist right now.”
Engineering is one of the few practical classes that is offered on campus. Looking more broadly, there is no class to teach a student how to change a tire or how to operate a savings account.
As students undergo the transition from needing support to supporting themselves, they will inevidably experience all of the basic skills of life.
“At St Mark’s, the mindset is more academically angled,” Hillier said. “But it makes people forget to think, ‘How bad could it be?’”