Teacher of the Year

If you can sew on a button, cook scrambled eggs, lead a group of preschoolers in “Duck, Duck, Goose” select appropriate curtains for your living room, or sketch the food pyramid, it's probably because you took a class in Family and Consumer Science.

What are Family and Consumer Sciences? It’s the new-fangled name for good old Home Economics. You probably think of Home Ec as a required middle or high school class where you burned the grilled cheese sandwich beyond recognition. My husband recalls Home Ec as the class where he “accidentally” turned the onion dip green.

But Home Ec is really much more than that. The International Federation for Home Economics, which serves as a consultant to the United Nations, states that Home Economics includes the study of food, nutrition and health; textiles and clothing; shelter and housing; consumerism and consumer science; household management; design and technology; food science and hospitality; human development and family studies; education and community services and much more.

If you’re wondering how I came to be such an advocate for Home Ec, it’s because my mother has been teaching it at my alma mater for more than 25 years.

In my high school, Home Ec is one of the most popular departments and my mom, Ms. Jayne Stoll, is well-known as one of the school’s “cool” teachers. Over the years, she has taught cooking, child development, interior design, fashion, home computers, and more. She was named Teacher of the Year a few years back and at the time, everyone wondered why it took so long for her fellow teachers to get around to honoring her.

In my mom’s classes, you get to eat whatever you’ve cooked, play with a sewing machine, go on field trips to Ikea, and discuss “Jon & Kate Plus Eight.” As part of her Child Development course, she runs a preschool in the high school, which she is careful to label “play school.” Two times a week, preschoolers come to play and learn while the high school students observe and discuss their behavior. In my senior year, I took Gourmet Cuisine with my mom and although I am ashamed to say that I got a C on her test on kitchen cleanliness, I aced the final exam by making a spectacular Baked Alaska.

This year, my mom is retiring from her teaching job and is finally leaving high school, 42 years after she was awarded her diploma. While I don’t imagine that she’ll use her retirement to whip up Baked Alaska for my dad every night, I have no doubt that Home Economics will play a large part in her daily life. After all, don’t Home Economics play a large part in all of our lives?

Even if you have a reserved seat at your favorite restaurant, you must make some kind of food for yourself each week. Even if you rent an apartment, you considered its layout and design before signing the lease. Even if you don’t have children, you might have to choose some appropriate toys for a niece or nephew for a birthday gift.

What my mother teaches are the skills we need to cope with the challenges of everyday life and she teaches them in a way that her students find engaging, exciting, and fun. And they are lessons that stick in your head, long after you’ve left her class.

One recent afternoon, my kids were whining for a snack and the pantry was bare. It didn’t take long for me to remember the homemade pretzels we made in Home Ec. Fifteen minutes later, little hands are busy rolling dough, stomachs are filled, and I am glad I chose to take Gourmet Cuisine and I’m even gladder that the class was taught by my mom.

The next time you find yourself whipping a snack from scratch, balancing your checkbook, or putting together a Halloween costume, take a minute to thank your Home Ec teacher for these valuable skills.

Thanks, Ms. Stoll...I mean Mom!