PAIL Program Provides Seniors with Hands-On Life Skills
As the members of the Class of 2022 ready themselves to leave the nest that is comfortable here at Fort Worth Country Day, they are gaining some life skills through the Practical Arts and Independent Living (PAIL) program during their advisory time. Steve Stackhouse came up with the idea and implemented early incarnations of the program seven years ago when he served as Assistant Head of School and 12th Grade Dean. The Pail program helps seniors prepare for the real world of dorm life and life on their own in a new town. On February 15, Sheila Cherry and Nolan Hightower shared their knowledge with the class about how to jump a dead car battery of another car and how to change a tire.
Daniel Lancaster, the current Senior Dean, sees great value in the PAIL program and continues it. “I'm the logical choice to run this program since we roll it out through advisory, and advisory is one of my responsibilities as Dean,” he said. “I also teach about 70 of the seniors and – maybe – have a decent grasp on what they like and need. I know I arrived at college knowing everything I would ever need to know to live away from home. I had it all covered. And then I quickly realized I didn't.
“Hopefully, this program ensures fewer moments of ‘Wait, I didn't know I didn't know that,’” he continued. “Ultimately, the idea is to fill in the gaps for students, those important gaps between/outside of their academic and social know-how.”
To come up with ideas, senior advisors brainstorm with their advisees, and Lancaster sends a form to the students to see what they are interested in learning about. He then sends out a list of topics, and the seniors select what they find most interesting and vital to them.
“Sometimes I fill in the gaps with skills that I know they will need to have, even if they might not yet know they need to know it,” Lancaster said. “Such is life; I certainly didn't know everything at 18 … and I still don't. This program allows the seniors to learn from the wisdom of others and hopefully gives them a leg up.”
Past PAIL options have included programs having to do with personal finance and saving for the future (often facilitated by Laura Stackhouse), resume building for part-time jobs and summer internships (most recently delivered by Laurie Valentine), dorm room meal prep (sometimes offered by SAGE Dining Services), exploratory sessions on how to navigate roommate relationships (built and facilitated by Kathy Roemer), and how to change a tire and jump a car battery (demonstrations and explanations usually offered by Nolan Hightower, Sheila Cherry and other Plant Operations team members). Last year, Lisa Wallace’s Online Newspaper students produced mini-docs on some of the traditional PAIL programs.
In addition to learning to change a tire and jumping a battery, students will rotate through three additional sessions, including Roommate Relationships, Eating Tips for Dorm Life (touching on disordered eating and substance abuse), and CPR/Medical Advice with Stacy Bourne ’02, Ed Chisholm, and Lori McCormack, RN, going over basic health and safety tips regarding medicine and what to do when. The students will also practice CPR on mannequins. The PAIL programming ends in April with students taking part in a self-defense workshop with Athena Strategies.
