Westport School Teaches the Life Skills Class We All Could Have Used

Growing up and having to "adult" every day isn't easy.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of a program that was created five years ago in Westport.

At the new Westport Middle-High School, teacher Daniel Marques is making huge strides to better the future of our youth with a special life skills class. He has gone above and beyond to ensure that his students are taught meaningful lessons that will help them in the real world.

"It's a program that I'm running at the high school that connects kids to the community through internship programs to teach them practical workplace skills, resumes, portfolio and soft skills such as communication," Marques said.

"These are all skills that will eventually help out my students in the long run."

Marques created and pioneered the course that teaches his students how to budget, deal with taxes, cook, have healthy relationships, plan life goals, prioritize, communicate and deal with emotion.

It also helped him become a Westport Community Schools teacher of the year in 2021.

"There are a lot of things that kids aren't being taught these days and a lot of it is a result of family breakdown," Marques said. "These are kids who come from motherless and/or fatherless homes that have a lot of breakdowns in the family structure, so they're not being taught these skills."

Talk about a life-changer. My only educational regret is not having this course available when I was in high school.

Recently, Marques reached out via his personal Facebook page looking for new subjects to teach his students in the new school year.

Here are 10 of the ideas shared that make the most sense.