“What Is a Worthwhile Life?” is a longstanding seventh-grade tradition at Lincoln Middle School that asks students to reflect on their identity, values, goals and place in the world. Throughout the school year, students explore the questions “Who am I?” and “What is a worthwhile life?” across English, history and other subjects, creating portfolios that may include essays, poetry, artwork and reflections on historical, literary and contemporary figures. At the end of the year, students dress professionally and sit for individual interviews with adults from the Santa Monica community, discussing their work and their ideas about what makes a meaningful life.

The program began in 1992, created by a team of Lincoln humanities teachers that included Claudia Flanders. They believed seventh grade was a particularly important time for students to begin thinking seriously about their futures and designed the project to bring together subjects across the curriculum. Each year, dozens of community volunteers — including professors, journalists, attorneys, businesspeople, researchers, former teachers and district leaders — interview the students and offer feedback not only on their ideas but also on communication, posture and presentation. By the 2000s, Flanders described the event as a “rite of passage” at Lincoln, and in 2024 the school held its 33rd Worthwhile Life Interviews.

What is a Worthwhile Life?

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