Hi Maggie, One thing you could do is to have the students "shadow" someone that is in their career area and write a report about their experiences. Have them interview people in the community that are using the skills you teach and then have them report on their findings. The key point is to help them see how the content you are teaching will be used in their lives and how applications of the content can be made in their lives outside of class. Tie your content directly into the courses that are offered in your college skill areas will help to make the content real as well. Gary