March 2020

March 13, 2020 westerner/opinions 11
EDITORIAL POLICY
The student-produced newspaper of
Maine West High School, the Westerner,
is dedicated to maintaining the
values of truth, integrity, and courage
in reporting. The Westerner provides an
open public forum for free and responsible
expression of student opinion, as
well as balanced coverage of issues of
student interest. The staff encourages
discussion and free expression between
all members of the school and community
and maintains its responsibility to
inform and educate the student body.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority
viewpoint of the editorial board.
Letters to the editor, which are subject
to editing for length and clarity, must
be signed by name and may be published
upon approval from the editorial
board. Opinions in letters are not
necessarily those of the Westerner, nor
should any opinion expressed in the
Westerner be construed as the opinion
or policy of the adviser, the Westerner
staff as a whole, the school staff, the
school administration, or District 207
school board.
EDITORIAL BOARD:
Editors-in-Chief:
Sarah Smail, Malaika Zaidi
Associate Chief Editor:
Suzy Linek
Chief of Digital Media
and Graphics Editor:
Abigail Milovancevic
News Editors:
Jameson Beckman, Jenna Robbins
Features Editor:
Malaika Zaidi
In-Depth Editor:
Abigail Milovancevic
Sports Editors:
Suzy Linek, Monyca Grimmer,
Daniel Vicens
Opinions Editor:
Sarah Smail
Entertainment Editor:
Hana Dempsey
Photo Editor: Greta Martin
Art Editor: Xiao Lin He
Digital Content Chief:
Nitin Nair
Assistant Editors:
Clare Olson, Jenna Daube, Alexis
Huerta, Aileen O’Connor, Sarosh
Khan, Monisa Yusra
STAFF MEMBERS
Maha Zaidi, Katy Wilczynski, Natalie
Castellanos, Andrew Stutheit, Lucy
Ellsworth, Khushi Patel, Blazej Ezlakowski,
Lili Vaughan, Jake Thvedt, Sariff
Alviso, Niki Vujcic, Joanna Vogt, Tej
Parmar, Marc Rizkalla, Karim Usman,
Kevin Schill, Anahi Sosa, Dominika
Szal, Johnny Nguyen, Zaid Usman,
Pratiksha Bhattacharyya, Angelica
Garin, Kira Palmer, Lily Chen, Mia
Reyes, Miguel Patino, Darcy Buchaniec
ADVISER:Laurie McGowan
LOCATION
The Real World
JOB TITLE
Functional Adult
VIEW FROM THE BOARD OF STUDENT EDITORS
In Search of a Functional Adult
Update: Job Position Available
JOB DESCRIPTION
General responsibilities for all positions include, but are
not limited to:
• Exhibiting excellent communication skills.
• Having a solid foundation of taxes and how to file them
• Demonstrating the ability to effectively read a tax form and W-2
• Understand what a loan entails and the different varieties
• Have the ability to budget properly and in different situations/ways of life
• How to make payments in various ways.
• Examples: installments, checks, credit/debit cards, etc
• Know the difference types of interest: variable, simple, and compound, etc
• Filling out a job application with no outside help
• Teaching others, like friends or family, these skills
• Securing health insurance
JOB REQUIREMENTS
• Ability to compromise with classes and electives
• Four years of a D207 education
As a school body of about 2,300 students, Maine
West does its best to provide a curriculum that
benefits everyone. Because high school is supposed
to prepare students for an independent
and adult life upon completion, Maine West needs to
rethink some of the necessary life skills students learn.
Despite the current efforts, students continue to feel unprepared
as they pave their paths for their own futures.
According to a Westerner survey of 110 students, 56%
of students believe that high school does not adequately
prepare them for adult life. That is 56% too many. Students
in the survey wrote that they need to learn “how to
file taxes,” “how to buy/rent a house/apartment,” “what a
mortgage is,” “how to buy insurance,” “what the importance
of Social Security is,” “how to avoid identity theft,”
and “how to deal with financial debt.”
Now
hiring
We want to fix that, so all students feel as though they
will be capable of tackling the future. While we are provided
with Consumer Education and Communication
Arts, these quarter classes currently are simply not enough
for us to gain a solid foundation on such vital life skills.
We wish Consumer Education could be more hands-on
and realistic for students. Instead of gaining a large budget
to work with and a lecture on how to file for taxes, we
should be getting realistic budgets--ones that reflect the
average family in Des Plaines--and visits from experienced
accountants to speak to classes and demonstrate how to
file taxes. Students, of course, need to do their part too, to
take these practical lessons seriously. As great as it is that
sophomores are going to be taught how to create resumes
and more financial aid workshops are being held by the
CCRC, West could do more to craft capable adults.