Business Courses and Life Skills

By Stephanie Breglio

WHS business courses are crucial in preparing students for the future and building basic life skills that may not be taught in other core classes or electives. New WHS students or even any student may wonder what the benefits of business courses are, or if they should be enrolled in one. The answer-- according to WHS students and teachers, is yes.


Senior Rachel Gopaul is one of these students who says “yes.” Rachel stated that taking Career Prep and Personal Finance was, “Eye opening in terms of looking for college stuff, getting used to gpa and looking into future careers.” 


WHS offers many options for business courses amongst the 3 teachers; Mrs. Griswold, Mrs. Ricardi, and Mr. Palazzo. The courses include Intro to Business, Career Prep, Personal Finance, Marketing I, Marketing II, and even more.


Basic and fundamental skills needed for the future that are taught in these classes, especially Career Prep and Personal Finance, may be surprising to some. They include resume writing, financial goal setting, learning how to save money, filing tax returns, learning how to use the program Excel, and even learning how to fill out a check and the parts of the check.


“I absolutely encourage students to take multiple business courses throughout high school because no matter what field they end up in, there will be things that they learn in the business courses that will apply, whether it’s soft skills or the math that we us,” said WHS Business Teacher Mr. Palazzo.
Mr. Palazzo mentioned that one of his graduate students came to him years later talking about what they learned through Excel and they said, “I was one of the first people who when I got the job was able to teach others how to use it.”


People who don’t take many business courses/business courses at all may not realize how much they really help students. I encourage all students to take business courses if they have the choice. It may help you in the future even if you are unaware of that right now.

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