Seniors Explore the Work World During Senior Options

For the past two weeks, seniors at Scarsdale High School (including myself) have gotten a taste of what many of our parents do every day. In the Senior Options Program, students get real-world work experience during the final weeks of senior year. For some, this means grabbing a gardening hoe while for others it means grabbing a movie camera. Students have been able to find interesting internships, community service, and independent projects all over, with many here in Westchester and others in New York City. While each student may have very different experiences and learn about working in different environments, one thing all students have in common is a hands-on learning experience that goes beyond the classroom.

Jose Lamela, the current Senior Options coordinator, is in his first year running the program. I got a chance to interview Sr. Lamela who said: "my favorite part of doing Senior Options is getting to meet senior I've never taught or gotten to know previously. Visiting the seniors and seeing them work is great too, some of them come back and say how much harder it is than being back in school." I also asked him which projects he thought were the coolest and most unique this year to which he responded, "this year there are a few kids working on movie sets who have actually had to sign confidentiality contracts, which is really interesting because they have insight into movies coming out in the future." For Sr. Lamela, Senior Options is a great and important program because of how it opens student's eyes to the world and exposes them to so much more than they would have been in the classroom.

I caught up with a few fellow students of mine at their Senior Options projects and found out a little bit more about what they are doing.

Jacob Kirschenbaum, who is interning at Westchester Boxing Club, spoke about his experiences there: "At Westchester Boxing Club, I've learned about both boxing as a sport and as a business. I've learned how to train clients in personal training sessions, including various boxing techniques, punches, safety precautions, workout regimens, etc. It's an extremely complex sport that requires a lot of practice and repetition, which we've certainly gotten a lot of in a hands-on sort of way.
On the business side, we've been focusing on the marketing of the gym through social media sites. We've been managing the gym's Facebook and Twitter pages, revamping their marketing approach to try to appeal to a younger demographic."

Eliane Englehard and Mayra De Gouveia are interning at Lulu's bakery and explained how their opinions of the project changed once they started working: "At first it seemed like a dread to go because neither of us wanted to work but surprisingly it's been an unbelievable experience. Everyone who works at Lulu's is very welcoming, funny, and nice. We both look forward to going and sometimes we even go earlier. They have taught us a lot about how to deal with rude people and let us do a lot more than we expected. For example: they let us help make decorations for wedding cakes as well as design cake toppers made of fondant. We would 100% recommend future seniors to consider Lulu's. It's really been a great experience."

I also met with Jono Gruber and Isabel Steckel at their Senior Options site at Stone Barns. Both Jono and Isabel are having fun and taking advantage of the farming experience. They explained what they've taken away from the program thus far: "At Stone Barns we have learned farming techniques, how to plant, how to talk to people in the workplace. It's been a great experience because we get to be outside and it's a rare opportunity to get to work on a farm. We've gotten to meet really cool people who we otherwise wouldn't typically meet in Scarsdale. The first week was hard because it was tough physical labor, but we've gotten the hang of it and its gotten better. One thing we have definitely learned through the program is to stick with things until we figure them out."

Unlike many students, Jen Eisler and Caroline Rodman have chosen to pursue an independent project for their senior options. While editing and compiling their photos, they elaborated on their first photojournalism project and what they've learned: "We are doing a photojournalism project and our first project was on the Wonderful Women of Scarsdale. Our first project was to photograph the involved women in the community of Scarsdale and interview them about their role in the community. We wanted to show a diverse group of women within Scarsdale, and learn about what living or working in Scarsdale is like for them. We've learned how to ask people the right questions, how to make them feel comfortable in an interview, how to use lighting in photography, and honed our people skills."

Jake Gibson, who is interning at Macguffin Films in New York City reflected on his time there and what he has learned so far: "I've had a great time interning for Macguffin Films because I'm learning both the foundations of and new creative techniques for film and television. Although I'm only on the set of commercials, everything done here which includes filming, rigging, directing, producing and editing goes into all forms of cinematography and I really enjoy learning what it takes to output professional media."

Jacob Cannon chose to intern at the Shell Gas Station on Weaver Street in order to learn hands on about cars and how they function. He described what a typical day at work is like, his favorite parts of the job, and what he hopes to learn: "On a typical day at the Gas Station I get a chance to learn about and handle several different processes. I do two or three New York State inspections, put the car through the computer, and check the tires, wheels, brakes and lights. On most days I'll get to do an oil change or two, and on some days I get a brake job, where I take out the old brakes, put in new ones, and then take the car out for a test drive, which is awesome. I am also learning how a small business functions through the convenience store. The hardest part is running the register, which can be impossible at times. It's a pretty awesome internship and I'm learning a lot. Not only am I learning the physical stuff and the different processes for the cars but I am also learning vernacular in terms of cars, the differences between different types of cars and how to take care of my own car. In the future I hope to learn a few more complicated jobs, like taking out a motor."

At the end of the six-week program, students will create presentations summarizing their newly acquired skills and work opportunities. Although one downside to the program is that seniors are off working on their own projects and do not get to see everybody in school during the last weeks of senior year, all students seem to be happy with how Senior Options has turned out and are learning every day. Whether working on cars, making artisanal cakes, or creating a photojournalism project, Scarsdale High School seniors are out in the workplace and are learning how to get things done.

This article was contributed by Brian Shabto, a senior at Scarsdale High School.