The White Falcon - 17.11.1978, Blaðsíða 4

Page 4
White Falcon
November 17, 1978
CWE
Students learn about wor
by working on the job
GETTING A TASTE of the working world military personnel co-workers is
A. T. Mahan High School student Richard Joseph. Richard is part of the
Cooperative Work Experience program (CWE). Actually working with the
trade that he is learning, Richard sorts mail at the base Post Office,
(staff photo by JOSA Paula Onstott)
A question that eventually
arouses the high school student’s
curiosity is, "What do I want to
do the rest of my life?" When an
adolescent enters high school, he
faces a number of major changes and
decisions. The most pending de-
cision deals with selecting a
career field to pursue. Making the
proper career choice is complicated
and sometimes troublesome to a per-
son about to enter the adult world.
Therefore, a student needs a guide
and an opportunity to find out by
experience what career field is
right for him.
The students at A.T. Mahan High
School are fortunate. They have
the opportunity to work at a career
field that interests them on the
Naval Station. The- opportunity is
called, "Cooperative Work Experi-
ence" (CWE). The Cooperative Work
Experience program is designed to
give students, grades 9-12, an op-
portunity to "experience, explore
and learn the basic skills, know-
ledge and abilities required in a
specific or general career area."
The CWE course is credited as an
elective course. The‘student leaves
the school atmosphere and enters a
working atmosphere. By allowing the
student to get outside of the normal
school setting, he is challenged
with existing in an adult world. He
is able to assert his maturity and
potential in a different capacity
of competition. Rather than compete
for the honor roll, he is faced with
competing for a "job well done."
Terri Brock, a 15-year old sopho-
more, works at the Lower School
from 1:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. as an
assistant physical education teach-
er. When asked if she had learned
anything surprising to what she had
imagined the teaching profession to
be, she replied, "I've found that
teachers are human beings! They
have to try hard to get along with
students so that personalities don’t
conflict."
Attitudes 'are liable to change
when the student actually experiences
the daily routine of a particular
career area. He gets a chance to
feel and know what is involved. The
student may develop an entire new
set of values; he learns how it
feels to be on the working side of
the counter. All are new experi-
ences for the Cooperative Work Ex-