IN THE CLASSROOM:Kids learn real-world lessons

Earlier this year, Barbara Wagner asked her students at Ensign Intermediate School to make lists of all the people in their lives who put pressure on them — and then to determine whether that pressure was positive or negative. It didn’t take long for her to see a trend.

Her students, jotting down ways that their friends influenced them — or tried to influence them — came up with smoking, cliques, drug usage and other pitfalls of being hip. Compared to the list for teachers and parents, who pressured students to rise early and work hard, the evidence looked pretty grim.

“They said, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s all negative,’ ” said Wagner, who created the Life Skills class at Ensign nearly a decade ago. “And I said, ‘Why do you think that is?’ ”

The exercise led into a unit on peer pressure — one of many topics that Wagner covers in class. Life Skills, an elective that around 300 students take each year, offers pointers on teamwork, negotiation, managing finances and other aspects of young adult life.

Wagner starts each day in class by giving students a quote — sometimes from a famous person, sometimes from a book or movie — and having them write about it in their journals. Each student must also do four hours of community service per quarter, tutoring other Ensign students with homework or serving at businesses or charities.

On Thursday, the class split into two parts, with a short discussion on media images followed by a longer one on economics. Wagner and the students created a chart listing different monetary assets — including cars, houses and bank accounts — and determined which grew more valuable or less valuable over time.

In the coming weeks, Wagner planned to have her students outline budgets, make pretend investments online and even cook a meal for their families while calculating the cost of the food. Students had only been studying finances for a few days, but some said the lessons had already impacted their personal habits.

“I go on the Internet to check my phone bill for text messaging, since I only get 200 messages a month,” said Erin Kincaid, 13, of Costa Mesa.

Classmate Annie Kinney said learning to keep a budget would come in handy for her.

“I have to save my money to buy the things I want,” said Annie, 13, of Newport Beach. “My parents only buy me what I need.”