Work-Based Learning Coordinator Brook Thompson poses in the CCHS Administrative Suite on Aug. 12. Thompson has found that the skills students learn in WBL are applicable to any career path they follow, regardless of what it is. “I did Work Based Learning when I was in high school, and I interned at a doctor’s office, (and I’m not working) in the medical profession, but I learned skills in that job that I still use today,” Thompson said. Photo by Lea D’Angelo
The Work-Based Learning program gives CCHS students the opportunity to gain experience in various fields of the workforce while still earning course credits.
Not every lesson has to take place in the classroom.
Work-Based Learning allows sophomores, juniors and seniors to take part in an internship while still gaining class credit through Clarke Central High School and the Athens Community Career Academy.
“(WBL is) an elective class, we replace a class on a student’s schedule, and the student would then be allowed to leave school to go to an internship or job,” WBL Coordinator Brook Thompson said.
CCHS senior Asher McElhannon works with his family at New Age Properties and McElhannon Built as a part of WBL and credits the program with helping him figure out what he wants to do after high school.
“(WBL has made a) positive impact on me by still allowing me to keep my job and continue to make an income rather than just over the summer,” McElhannon said. “I plan to pursue my own (construction) business full-time once I graduate.”
A slideshow highlights five things students wanting to join the Work-Based Learning program should know as advised by WBL Coordinator Brook Thompson. The program allows students to participate in an internship or job while still earning course credit, provided they meet the requirements. “Students must complete a (Career, Technical and Agricultural Education) class. So here at the high school, that could be (classes like) business, graphic design, agriculture, engineering, software technology, design or engineering,” Thompson said. Infographic by Lea D’Angelo
With spots still open to apply to the program for the spring semester, students wanting to join the program need to keep up with their grades, as well as their behavior in class.
“As a part of the application, we also reach out to two of the students’ teachers and their counselor, and they fill out a (recommendation) form,” Thompson said. “(It has) common reference questions. And so I encourage students to think about ‘Well, what do I want my teacher to say about me,’ and then exhibit the behavior that (they) want them to say.”
“(WBL has made a) positive impact on me by still allowing me to keep my job and continue to make an income rather than just over the summer,”
— Asher McElhannon,
Work-Based Learning student and Clarke Central High School senior
From working at Caterpillar to helping out at Piedmont Medical, students have options to choose from, many of them paid. However, every internship includes lessons that will help students when they leave the classroom for good.
“All the students leave with resumes (and) with interview prep,” Thompson said. “(They learn) how to write a professional email, to communicate professionally and verbally, as well as ( to) handle conflict at the workplace.”
