We’ve all heard the old saying, “Behind every good man is a good woman.”

The same phrase was illustrated and expanded last week in our community. Behind every good, well-prepared high school graduate is a community of adults offering life lessons.

Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy David Hedrick’s better half — his wife, Whitney — suggested an idea that quickly grew legs: Make sure new high school graduates get some basic life lessons before they head off to college or into the work world.

Hedrick, CPSO investigator John Cowan, K-9 officer Chris Stricklin and others taught a group of soon-to-graduate Concordia Parish students some valuable life lessons.

The group instructed the students on everything from how to recognized drugs slipped into a drink to the simple, but important, steps on how to change a tire on an automobile.

Students learned how to use jumper cables to jumpstart a car when it has a dead battery. They learned to think about the long-term ramifications and potential threats they expose themselves to through indiscriminate posts on social media.

All of these were good, common-sense and much-needed lessons that every high school graduate heading into adulthood needs to learn.

In a world in which we all often focus great attention to statewide performance tests and how we stack up against our peers, it’s refreshing to know that some people are also working on simply helping young people be trained on the basics of becoming adults as well.

Thanks to the CPSO (and Mrs. Hedrick) for seeing the need and making a plan to address the need.