Earlier this month, students from Hayfork and Southern Trinity High Schools got outside of their comfort zones to experience life skills and training at two very different venues. 
 

Hayfork High School students held a budget / grocery store day with paraprofessional, Jaime Curry, in pursuit of creating a month-long food budget for their individual households.  This involved decision making on meals and what to buy for a single shopping trip to sustain them for a FULL MONTH, with a budget of $ 300 or less. 

Students took turns shopping and running the cash register to ring each other up as if they were going through a check out line.  This activity focused on money and math skills while also emphasizing interpersonal “soft” skills like customer service.   The “store’s” ambiance was also enhanced with a fireplace in the background. 

The Southern Trinity High crew went further afield for their life skills adventuring.  Shop teacher Cindy Dixon took the crew of students to Shasta College to participate in a CTE academy.  Southern Trinity High students spent their day auditing the Shasta College engine-repair courses.  Students received hands-on experience in everything from changing spark plugs to learning about diesel engines and touring the machining classroom.  They then took turns compression testing an engine before they took a bit of a left turn into the “Hot Shop”, where they were given a private showing of Shasta College’s new glass-blowing class and watched a demonstration of the craft in real time.  Overall, students were exposed to a wide variety of hands-on coursework that they could take part in after their high school career comes to a close. 
 

The sessions for both schools were supported by the Trinity County Office of Education’s Workability Coordinator, Stephanie Rebelo.