Senior Symposium teaches life skills for outside the classroom

RAVENA-COEYMANS-SELKIRK — High school students spend plenty of time conjugating French verbs, analyzing literature and studying the structure of molecules — great academic pursuits. But once they step outside the classroom, what about some of those day-to-day life skills they will also need?

The first-ever Senior Symposium was held at Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School to teach students skills from cooking dinner to changing the oil in their car.

“Senior Symposium is intended to allow students to access real life skills they will likely need when they leave us here at RCS,” District Superintendent Dr. Brian Bailey said. “We gave them a little diversity and a choice in this.”

Bailey was one of the instructors, showing off his flair in the kitchen.

“I am teaching a cooking class with my wife because we all need to cook, we all need to eat,” he said. “The general idea is that they can follow their passion a little bit, maybe explore something they’ve never done before, and ideally walk out with a skill they can utilize when they leave us.”

There were a number of activities to choose from — cooking, auto maintenance, a motivational speaker discussing the students’ passions and the principles of success, and an FBI agent and other speakers talking about career opportunities. Some portions of the day dealt with hands-on skills, while others were more motivational.

“The goal is to give kids skills that they need when they graduate from high school,” Principal Lisa Patierne said. “In the first part we did a workshop on the success principles – we had a special guest, Rear Admiral June Ryan.”

Patierne and Ryan explained to the kids some of the success principles of highly successful people — goal setting, believing in yourself, asking for what you need, taking feedback and using it to move yourself forward in your endeavors.

“We had a workshop for them where they learned the success principles,” Patierne said. “They set goals for themselves so they can decide what they want and how they can get there.”

The students learned some of the patterns that research indicates highly successful people demonstrate.

“We are exposing the students to some principles of success – when you look at super highly successful individuals, they have these patterns of success, and we are bringing that information to the students today,” motivational speaker Rear Admiral June Ryan said.

She did a “passion test” with the kids to learn “what innate talents do you bring to the world? How do you like to express those talents? Super successful people know what their talents are and they know the activities they like to do and they use them,” Ryan explained.

Kids also took part in the hands-on components of Senior Symposium — like learning how to take care of your vehicle. Aaron Keezer, head mechanic for the RCS district, showed them the ins and outs of basic auto mechanics.

“I have the kids going over basic maintenance – how to check tire pressure, how to change wiper blades and a flat tire,” Keezer said. “We went over things to look at on your vehicle – to check the tires and make sure there are no bulges or scrapes on the sidewalls. We went over how to jumpstart a car, I showed them how to check the antifreeze, the oil, some of the easy things people can do themselves.”

Having these skills can be vital, Keezer said.

“This is important – not only will it save you time, it will save you a headache. Simple things like this can get you out of a pinch,” he said.

In the school’s gymnasium, officers from the Albany County Sheriff’s Office offered K-9 demonstrations and used their specially equipped “go-cart” to show kids the effects of impaired driving. Students got behind the wheel, put on special goggles, and drove on a route — learning, along the way, how alcohol and drugs can affect them.

“It simulates what it feels like to operate a vehicle if they are impaired by alcohol or drugs,” said Investigator Thomas Praisner from the Albany County Sheriff’s Office. “It gives them an uncomfortable feeling of driving over cardboard cutouts (of people). It shows how dangerous it is driving under the influence.”

In the kitchen, several students learned how to cook tasty meals, a skill they will likely use every day of their lives.

Seniors Kaylee Eacho and Jesse Ferri worked on lemon chicken scallopini and learned important lessons along the way.

“I learned that the chicken has to be at a certain temperature on the inside, and when you stick the thermometer in the chicken you have to put it in the fattiest part,” Eacho said. “I have cooked at home before, but I’ve never done anything like this.”

Outside, students could grab a complimentary lunch from Yanni’s taco truck. Other activities included meeting with an FBI agent to talk about possible careers, taking he “passion test” to identify their skills, a self-defense program for women, Cocoa and Paint for art lovers, and talking about the message the students want to convey to the world.

“We are excited about the day,” Patierne concluded. “This is our first time, so we will take a look at how it went, what we can change, and how we will make it even better for next year.”