By Amber Blair
Many teenagers not only deal with the worries of school – homework, projects, sports and club meetings – but also with the responsibility of a job.
Students balance school and work by taking advantage of directed study and the early work-release program.
“I try to use my directed study time as wisely as possible and try to get to work early to try to do some homework,” said junior Austin Brown.
Austin has worked for three months at Chick-fil-A as the cow seen at the football games. He said that managing school and work is definitely hard, but he tries to make school come first.
Senior Candice Pierce leaves school early to get to her job.
“I have early release, so I try my best to get my homework done before I go in, and if it’s weekend homework, I try to get it done Sunday night,” Candice said.
Underclassmen are not eligible for early work release, so their employers must be more flexible in scheduling their work hours. Senior Erin Wilder goes to school full time. Her employer, Anna’s Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria, takes that into consideration.
Cooperative Office Education helps students find jobs as part of the curriculum. Senior Clerese Coleman works weekdays in the main office at Fairfield Middle School as a part of the COE class. She also works part-time as a hostess at Shoney’s.
“Working at Fairfield through my COE class is pretty fun, but sometimes it’s hard to manage on days I have to also work at my second job, but it helps me to learn a lot of responsibility,” Clerese said.
Business teacher and COE coordinator Susan Johnson said that many things learned on the job cannot be taught in the classroom.
“They gain work experience and also learn the work ethic and personal skills needed to succeed on the job,” Ms. Johnson said.
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