Special to the Newark Post (11-2000)
On a recent Friday, someone asked my friend, John, about what we were doing as we were apprenticing on Main Street.
I say "apprenticing" because the school we go to, Newark Center for Creative Learning, has an apprenticing program.
This means that every Friday the kids in the oldest class go to shops in Newark and work there. It is a great program. Even though we only go from noon to 3 p.m. it is still a lot of work time by the end of the year.
At the beginning of the program, students fill out practice applications and have mock interviews at school. Students are placed according to their interests. But, only one student can be at a business at a time, and only for one year, so they get a variety of experiences.
The program was designed to give kids in our oldest class a chance to get work experience and it is a great way to teach responsibility and punctuality.
Many kids get summer jobs where they apprentice, which is also very convenient because we already know the business.
It also gives us some great stories to tell. For instance, one Friday a tall man with long black hair and a red shirt walked into Brewed Awakenings which is my apprenticing business.
At the time, I was cleaning the windows so I didn't take much notice. I was just finishing the door as he was leaving. As I moved so he could open the door he looked down at me and said, "You give us the power to see through walls. Thank you."
It made my whole day. So far I haven't seen him again, but I hope to.
Another apprentice, Kelly, is working at a seamstress' business. She organizes buttons, sews with the industrial sewing machine, and organizes patterns from nearly 70 years ago.
One of my other classmates, Gabe, works at the Newark Arts Alliance Art House. He does a lot of mopping and sweeping, makes banners, and dusts. That is what most of us do, I think.
However, some kids do something called a service project.
These kids don't actually work on Main Street. They stay at school and try to either think of a way they could create to help people or donate help to an existing one. Right now, I think they are thinking of sending flowers to hospitals for patients.
As you can see, this is a great program and I hope it becomes more popular in other places with small schools.
Teachers, Heather Suchanec and Kate Kerrane are in charge of the apprenticing program at NCCL. They check in with the employers once a month and get feedback about how the student is progressing.