Nonacademic Education = Good Idea

Blog – Do you value the ‘nonacademic’ education you are receiving? Why or why not?

I am pretty biased, having always received a nonacademic education, but I absolutely think that nonacademic education is extremely important. Even in Africa, the schools put a high focus on it, especially physical education. Perhaps this is most evident in the number of great runners from Kenya. In America, schools focus on even more nonacademic education, especially private ones. I went to a public school in 3rd grade and I remember we had Spanish twice a week, P.E. once a week, Art once a week, and Music once a week. When I switched to a private school, I had P.E., music, Spanish, and art every day. In addition, there were school plays that everybody was required to participate in and recess and projects that included a variety of nonacademic outlets. In high school, it seems to have dropped off somewhat. This, however, has been compensated for with the experience of playing on the school athletic teams. There are many life lessons that you can learn from sports. I'm sure that people who do theater or music would tell you the same thing. I know that there are schools out there that do not give much nonacademic education, mostly due to a lack of funding and time. I think that these kids and schools are missing out, and it would be great if everybody in America got to have recess and art and music and P.E. everyday. There is definitely something to be said for the lessons that nonacademic classes can teach you.