Preparing students for later

I was thinking about something after yesterday's meeting. It would be nice to survey graduates 5 and 10 and 15 years down the line to see what we did that was successful and what we did that could have been better. The example that I think of here is my brother - a 1999 graduate. Dave is an extremely bright young guy who was interested in some classes and not so interested in others. He didn't love school like I did, but he definitely poured himself into classes that sparked his interest. Even when he didn't love a class, he still got a lot out of it, and the best thing that he came away from Arapahoe with was the ability to write well. He is convinced that his writing ability is what landed him an internship in the mayor's office last year (over another applicant who attended an Ivy League school) and secured him a spot in graduate school. Dave has always been an avid reader, and really likes to write, but his English teachers also deserve lots of credit for the time they spent helping him become a better writer. His Social Studies teachers also nurtured his passion for history and current events and he still talks about those classes and teachers today. So, what I am attempting to say is that we need to build on what we already do well in many cases - nurture interests and help improve skills that will be very important later in life.