School teaches children 2+2=4, and that the Earth orbits the Sun, but for all the lessons school curriculum neglects, Tricia Broussard fills in the gaps with a program she developed herself. It’s called Life Skills for the Student, and it’s a unique career for the 34-year-old who says she always knew she wanted to be a teacher.
“[Life Skills] is how to be a successful citizen, how to be a successful adolescent going into your adulthood,” Broussard says. “It’s mainly a reinforcement to help those kids be more successful at school and at home.”
It all began when she was five, with a big chalkboard and her imaginary students, Tina and Tony. At LSU, Broussard earned her undergraduate degree in education then went on to get a master’s degree in Language Arts from Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga. She taught middle school in Atlanta for five years before starting a family in Louisiana, where relatives were close.
After being a full-time mom for three years, Broussard began tutoring three times a week at the Dunham School. Within a year, she began the training and certification process to work exclusively with children with reading disabilities as an academic language therapist.
Lacie D. Bofinger created the Life Skills program as an aid for dyslexic children. Once Broussard began working with the material, she quickly realized its universal application.
“The Life Skills approach is to help the kids stay motivated, study, learn to manage their time and stay organized,” Broussard says. “At the end of the certification process, I thought, ‘This isn’t just for dyslexic kids. I’m going to offer this to students of all levels.’”
Broussard changed, adapted and grew the program to fit the needs of her students and incorporate her own ideas and personality.
“It’s a great program—I wish they offered it for adults,” says Kristen Fryday, who has put two children through Broussard’s class. “It’s the same thing the kids hear from their parents and their teachers, but hearing it from her, I think they listen better.”
Each student is equipped with a Life Skills binder to aid them throughout the five-day course and throughout their schooling.
The first page inside the binder screams “NO EXCUSES” in bold, capital letters. “There are no excuses why you should not be able to be the best student that you possibly can be,” she says. “Any excuse you could possibly think of, I don’t want to hear it.”
The first part of the program is goal-setting. Students map out a five-week plan to accomplish a personal goal, a relationship goal and an academic one. She teaches her students note-taking, organization and study skills. Throughout, Broussard emphasizes confidence, body language, attitude and the impact peers can have on the first three.
“If you don’t have confidence in yourself, no one else is going to have confidence in you,” she says.
Broussard credits part of her success to the fact that public and private school teachers don’t have time to fit many life lessons in between essential curriculum and standardized testing.
Given an hour and a half, five days a week, she fills in those gaps.
More than 300 students have taken her Life Skills course, including the teenage son of Rhonda Lee. Lee is a teacher herself, and she says she enrolled her 16-year-old in Broussard’s class to help with his organization and study skills. As the weeks went by, she noticed he became more articulate and confident as well.
“I would recommend it to any parent whose child struggles,” she says. “I loved how all-encompassing it was.” lifeskillsforthestudent.com
