Dear TRA Families,
What are the most important skills and tools a person (thinking of my children here) needs to be successful in life? I’m not so much talking about academic tools such as reading; that is a given. I am thinking more about what kind of life skills do they need to “make it” in the “real world?”
I bet you have ideas about this, but here are a few of my personal thoughts on the matter.
How to unclog a toilet, how to mow the grass, and how to manage a home budget are the first tasks that come to mind. But then my mind goes to other social skills, such as how to conduct themselves in an interview or how to have a conversation at a dinner party.
I do indeed want my kids to have practical life skills like how to unclog a toilet or mow the grass, but I am also struck by the incredible importance of skills that fall into the category of social graces; this used to be called Protocol.
I was recently talking to a local business owner who hires a lot of people right out of high school. They shared with me that they had recently realized their task as manager/owner had morphed to include training in life skills, in addition to the training previously required for job mastery. Why this shift? Why is it now the responsibility of the business owner to train the people in basic life skills such as how to be personable, how to treat a customer, or even how to show up to work on time?
I wonder if a shift toward informality as a society may be contributing to this challenge? Whatever the cause, the felt reality from those who are hiring students out of high school is that there is, on the whole, a gap in understanding around basic life skills.
And it isn’t just happening in Wenatchee. I was speaking with a friend of mine in Texas who was sharing a similar experience. When hiring young people, he knows that part of his job will be training them in basic life and social skills that 10-15 years ago would have been assumed.
What are we doing about this at TRA? Each year we teach our high school students (9-12) a course called Protocol. What is Protocol? Protocol is “correct or conventional procedures to be followed when doing something so that it will be done consistently and with ease of cooperation.” My layman's definition would be simplified to “acting and dressing in a way that is appropriate for the occasion.”
In other words, it is me NOT showing up to a formal dinner party in sweats, nor me talking loudly during an intimate ballet performance.
How does TRA teach students some of these basic protocols?
Here is a shortlist of topics we include in the course:
How to make conversation in large social gatherings
How to escort or be escorted to a formal event
How to dress appropriately for a given situation - whether formal or informal
How to handle yourself in an interview
How to know which fork to pick when dining at a fancy restaurant
How to write a thank-you note
Several other fun and useful topics
As you can see, we don’t—and can’t—cover all social graces to equip our students for all situations. But I do hope that our small effort in teaching them protocol helps. The local business owner mentioned earlier did say that there is a marked difference they have noticed when hiring TRA students. I can’t help but wonder if we are making a dent.
And, we have a lot of fun while doing it. All of our protocol training culminates in a fun event. This year our juniors and seniors will travel to Spokane to have a formal dinner where they get to dress in formal attire and dine at a nice restaurant. Then they will have the opportunity to see the musical Hamilton live. If you are not a musical fan, that may not mean much to you, but for those who know musicals, you will know what a HUGE gift and blessing this will be for our students.
I am grateful my own children are receiving this protocol training. I see the difference it has made for our graduates and know my own children will benefit accordingly. To God be the glory in all we do at TRA to help shape and educate the next generation of Christian leaders!
Have a great week,
Eric
