Sunday’s Column – What Is Important
To this day, I can recite the Quadratic Formula. I can do this thanks to Mrs. Brewer, my eighth-grade algebra teacher.
She came up with a little tune and we would all stand up and sing the formula in class.
“Negative b, plus or minus, the square root of … b squared minus 4ac, all over 2a .a .a” (we added the last two “a’s” for fun to make the song work. I know they aren’t part of the equation.)
I can also, to this day, recite the slogan on a can of Budweiser — “This is the famous Budweiser beer. We know of no other brand produced by any other brewer which costs so much to brew and age. Our exclusive Beechwood Aging process produces a taste, a smoothness and a drinkability you will find in no other beer at any price.” I did not learn this in school, but rather from my fraternity pledge trainer.
I bring this up because I came home the other day to a rather stressed out Eldest SON of Thunder, who was being quizzed by the Little Black Dress for an upcoming test. The subject matter of said test was the capitals of the 50 states.
“Why do you have to know this,” I asked.
“It’s for a test,” Eldest replied.
“I understand that, but who cares? Just Google it for pete’s sake,” I said.
Now, I know the capital of Maine is Augusta, which is somewhat interesting to me because I started my journalism career in Augusta, Georgia. I also know the capital of New York is not New York City, but rather Albany, which most people don’t realize. I have no idea what the capital of South Dakota is, nor do I care. Change that, South Dakota’s capital is Pierre. I Googled it.
I, too, had to learn the state capitals in high school. Since then I have never shared that information on any resume. Nor have I ever asked any job applicant the capital of California (Sacramento, not Los Angeles as most think. And no, I did not look that one up. I remembered).
So what?
In today’s world, the entire vast knowledge of the world is available at our fingertips. Most kids today have smartphones and can answer any question within seconds, depending on how strong their signal is.
I hope after cramming to learn the state capitals, information that most likely will only be used again during a trivia game, we move on to more important skills.
Things like knowing how to read and write. To this day I am amazed how many college graduates have no idea of the difference between their, there, they’re; its and it’s; cite, site, sight; and your and you’re. Not a big deal? Any employer worth his or her salt facing two equally skilled applicants is going to take the one who can spell — every time. Life skills are sorely lacking. Most young people have no idea how to do a personal budget or understand the dangers of credit cards. Their understanding of money is scary, and not in a good way. They have no concept of living within their means.
I hope within the time spent learning the state capitals and other mundane information, schools will focus on helping students prepare for the real world and not Trivial Pursuit.
And the capital of Arizona is?
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