Every year, Warren Central High School students choose to join Teenworks, a work program designed to help teenagers from Indianapolis and Muncie in getting ready for the future with employment experience.
“It has been nothing but beneficial to me, and that’s what’s my favorite part about Teenworks. I’ve learned a lot from the program, and it’s helped me in more ways than one, giving me a job and skills for my future,” senior Jason Brito said.
Teenworks is a summer work program dedicated to teaching teenagers how to handle being an employee and building a resume and skills appropriate for the work environment. Since the beginning of the year, Warren Central students have been pushed to join the program because of the valuable connections, experience and opportunity that comes with to being involved with Teenworks.
“I worked during the summer and got hired year-round. I stuck to it and got connections with the job I was working at for future employment outside of Teenworks,” Brito said. “They also introduced me to another program called Nextech which dealt with what I wanted to do in the future. It broadened my horizon even further, teaching me even more skills pertaining to what I would like to do as well as further my networking skills.”
Every day for six weeks in the summer, teens are dropped off at Warren at 7:30 in the morning, where transportation is provided to previously-assigned job sites. For the first half of the day, they work around the city to gain experience in the workforce. The second half of the day, the students are taken to the University of Indiana to work on their ‘soft skills.’ These skills include learning how to build a resume, how to behave in an interview and how to apply this knowledge to everyday life.
“The experience for me was wonderful. I really like working at Teenworks, and this is my third year. I have grew so much over the years with them, and I have got better at my communication skills and myself as an whole,” senior Patrick Mack said. “I had the opportunity to work in the professional field, receive pay and had the chance to get connected with college.”
Although the deadline to apply has passed, if one is interested, the counselors advise to stay active. The counselors always notify the announcements when the Teenworks applications are out, and interested students should make sure to pick up an application for next year.
“I would highly recommend joining Teenworks to any student wanting to earn some money over the summer and learn lessons that will last you your whole professional life,” senior Hannah Mayorga said. “It’s an easy summer that teaches you a lot of important skills you might not get in the classroom. It’s fun and you get to meet a ton of new people who help you grow professionally and personally.”