This past June, the Year 13’s of Warwick Academy were offered a unique opportunity: a well-paying job at the place they would normally use summer to escape from — school.

An e-mail from the facilities manager, Mr McCullough, announced that jobs were available, helping the facility management team renovate before the new school year. This meant moving things in and out of classrooms, replacing worn-down furniture, and repainting faded walls.

Four students were enticed by the offer: Tez Terry, Alex Dore, Jordan DeShields and Coby White. They worked for nine hours Monday through Thursday, and were rewarded with a half-day off on Friday afternoons. According to the hard-working teenagers, the experience was completely worth it.

“It was a good job,” recalled Alex Dore. “It was a lot of fun, and we had a really good time. Seeing the first pay cheque made it worthwhile.”

The job gave the students practice in the renovating business, and although it was physically demanding work, it paid off with a sense of pride in the end. “Like, you walk in [to a room], and you think, ‘I painted that room’,” Dore said with satisfaction.

Jordan DeShields agreed. “The job comes through when people notice a new paint job, or desk, or say, ‘Wow’, and I say ‘You’re welcome’. The look from people when they realise that I did that makes it all worthwhile. Building relationships with the co-workers and faculty were the best things about the job, because it’s great when you know the people you’re working with.”

Caleb Hamilton, who is three years younger than the other summer employees, heard about the job through the grapevine and asked if he, despite his youth, could join, and was also accepted. “I heard that there was an opportunity for Warwick Academy students to have a job, so I took the offer as quickly as I could.”

When asked if they would do the same thing next summer, the students all agreed.

“Definitely,” Dore responded. “Not only is it a good job, but the people I work with are good people, so you know, it was great.”

However, friendships and renovations were not the only events of the summer. The students also dealt with the occasional mishap during their efforts.

“There was a time when we broke a whiteboard,” DeShields admitted. “We were drilling into the wall, I leaned against the board, and it fell off.”

Hamilton had a similar experience. “We were painting a room in the primary section, and we got paint all over the teacher’s carpet. That was pretty bad.”

Although absent from the job description, competition also seemed to play a prominent role in the experience. “We sometimes had a competition to see who could pick up the most trash. Like when I saw someone holding one bag of trash, I would pick up four,” DeShields said with much bravado.

All in all, the five students who were stuck at school this summer enjoyed their experience tremendously (especially since they got paid!) and if given the opportunity to do it again, they would forfeit their two months of escape, and return to school for a summer of physical labour, occasional blunders, competition and the satisfaction of a job well done.