Work study students enter job placements The new program allows students to pursue interests beyond the classroom

By the Searchlight Staff

At the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, WHS staff members Bailey Tighe and James Connelly implemented the first ever work study program at WHS. In order to be eligible for a second semester work placement, senior students in the program took adjusted classes throughout the first semester in order to fill graduation requirements before they began their internships in the spring semester.

In order to graduate, all students at WHS must pass four years of English courses. Throughout semester one, all work study students took a double section of English in order to fulfill the graduation requirement.

“Based on what the students’ interests are, we could day different activities and cover different information. If kids are planning on going to college we do a bit more in terms of citation and research paper function,” work study English teacher Bailey Tighe said. “But if they are not planning to go to college, we still do research, reading, writing, and presenting all of those aspects of what English looks like outside of [high school].”

Along with taking classes during semester one, work study students were also tasked with figuring out what exactly they wanted to do during their placement. Some students knew exactly what field they wanted to work in, and even where they wanted to intern. However, some students required extra exploration and assistance from the program’s coordinators in order to find a plan that worked for them.

“We have them take aptitude tests; plus, some kids know what they want to do and where they want to go. A lot of it is honestly cold calling, we call the ple in some way, ” Fowkes said. number of different companies we’ve reached out to alumni and parents within the school to see if their companies would take high school students,” work study coordinator James Connolly said.

Senior Ryan Fowkes entered the work study program with the plan to become a firefighter after graduation. Massachusetts firefighter requirements include receiving at least a highschool diploma or GED as well as EMT training, along with the physical and mental tasks assigned at the academy. As a part of the work study program, Fowkes decided to enter into an EMT school to receive the necessary training, allowing him to kickstart his future before his highschool graduation.

Walpole’s work study program allowed seniors this year with any intended future plans–college, trade school, entering the workforce, etc.—to garner work experience and build their resumes before receiving their diplomas on June 4.

“I think it is so valuable for students who are not on a traditional academic track to have things to try and to see ways to be successful, financially stable, and independent without a struggle who are also not going to college,” Tighe said.

The work study program staff hopes to expand the student body’s knowledge about the program as the program grows. As this was the first year the program was implemented at WHS, there were seven senior students who joined and followed through with the program to further their interest in their field of work. As for the future of the program, the school hopes to introduce the program to students earlier on in their high school careers.

“I had always wanted to become a firefighter, some older relatives were and it inspired me to become one and my dad always wanted to become one. I always wanted to help peo-

“We do hope to have more students moving forward and more college track students,” Tighe said. “I think the perception that work study is just for kids that don’t want to go to college is a misperception and we’re working to combat that idea.” in school, the expectation was that students were still learning the material they were supposed to, but over a computer screen. The ways in which students handled completing their school work from home carried over to their following school years and academic success. Mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression also play a big role surrounding the school environment for students post-pandemic. As students were deprived from social interaction for several months at a time, students returned to school more anxious and depressed than ever. Students grew attachments to their homes, and now it is difficult to think of sitting in a classroom for seven hours a day. As the seniors this year were freshmen during the pandemic, they will be the last grade to understand the effects COVID-19 had on all four years of their high school careers. Each grade and each student was affected differently and had to adapt to the changes in their environment. The WHS alumnus, now college students, set the precedent for school culture going forward in their initial reactions to the pandemic. Now that school is seemingly back to nor casts and radio shows. all that they were–unknown, term side effects, accurately predict extent of. Fast forward a sample survey of proved that of about 98% felt that had left lingering academic performance, levels and ability as well as their interest personal level of development of other “I just feel doing school at tivation for coming and doing work an anonymous 68.6% of dents answered that their academic performance affected by the 81.4% believed their demic motivation Not only is it students’ achievement that but their motivation schoolwork itself. are able to overcome motivation and not performance, which in the 12.8% increase who believed their affected but not their “I had to keep I wanted for my couldn’t let my grades I knew I wanted petitive healthcare college,” senior Ally While some able to retain their els because of set tions, many were to their full academic “I used to completed and give shows. But that’s were–unknown, longthat no one could predict or project the forward three years, of WHS students those surveyed, that the pandemic lingering effects on their performance, motivation ability to concentrate, interest in school, of stress and the other social skills. feel like ever since home my mocoming to school work has lacked,” student said. of survey responthat they believed performance was pandemic, while their personal acawas also affected. students’ academic has been altereed, motivation to complete itself. Some students overcome their lack of not let it affect their which can be seen increase of students their motivation was their performance. keep in mind what future and that I grades slip because to apply to comhealthcare programs from Ally Brown said. some students were their motivation levset future expectaunable to live up academic potential. to have my work give no excuses on if it was not. Now I have little to no motivation with my work and school is dreadful to go to,” another anonymous student said.

Students surveyed described this lack of motivation as not only a decrease in the amount of effort dedicated to schoolwork, but also as increased levels of procrastination, lack of focus in class and a greater desire to not go to school entirely. In the first semester of the 2019-2020 school year, the number of students–18 and older–that dismissed themselves from school was 109. During the first semester of 2022, this number jumped to 311. “Senioritis” has long been a thing before the pandemic, but after the pandemic, it seems as if students are becoming more and more affected by it.

According to Harvard’s Graduate School of Education Magazine, happiness and motivation levels are distinctly linked. However, when students are forced to try and fit four years of education into roughly 2.5 years, there is going to be added stress. And when their is added stress, this can affect factors such as levels of happiness, and subsequently levels of motivation.

In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that during the first year of the pandemic there was a 25% increase globally in prevalence of anxiety and depression–young people seemingly being the most affected. If motivation is directly linked to happiness, the lack of motivation stemming from the pandemic at WHS makes sense considering the increase in mental illness around the world.

The widespread loss of motivation in students does not affect students’ individual class performances, but also how they value education as a whole. When this lack of motivation and effort affects students from all ages throughout school systems, the effects can be detrimental to learning environments. Motivation fuels cognitive development, and it enhances the brain’s capability to learn; therefore, mo- tivation is necessary in students.

Teachers are some of the greatest planners in the world. They prepare lessons for students, establish deadlines and organize their courses for students to have the best chance at acing final exams in the spring. However, there is not enough planning and organization in the world that could have prepared educators for the unexpected events in March of 2020 when their careers took a dark, unprecedented turn. After being conditioned to wake up at 5:45 am, order an iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts and arrive in their classroom with a computer and a pop quiz for each of their students, it is reasonable to assume teachers were unprepared for the new-age of learning the pandemic forced onto schools. Using unfamiliar technology, teachers had to educate their students from home for three months, and then through a hybrid model in the following school year. Now, almost three years later, schools are back in order, and things seem “normal” again. While that may be the case for some, many educators in the district, as well as the rest of the world, are still recovering from the stressful online-learning model and simultaneously adapting to changes in the classroom dynamic.

One may argue that the most fulfilling aspects of being an educator are the hands-on learning environment and the “Ah-hah” moments that students experience when teachers help them finally understand challenging lessons.

Over a Google Meet, however, teachers found that their work to educate students was not nearly as appreciated as it was in the classroom. During a social and emotional learning workshop conducted by WHS English teacher Kerry McMenimen, WPS teachers were asked about obstacles they have continuously encountered in the classroom since the pandemic, and a common response referenced the “lack of respect” students seem to have for teachers and their work.

“Students in general have become more passive,” history teacher Gillian Hogan said. “Students take less ownership and responsibility for due dates, as well as taking and keeping track of materials.”

Besides receiving less respect from students, teachers have also noticed students exhibit weaker emotional skills and avoid social interactions, likely because of how heavily students relied on technology during the pandemic. During in-person learning, students constantly interact with their peers and teachers —even if they do not want to—and as a result, students develop socialization skills and emotional maturity. After switching to Google Meets, however, students were given a dangerous amount of power when they learned they could shut off their cameras and microphones. -Students could disengage from all social interactions, and teachers are seeing the results today as students find it very difficult to communicate with them. Teachers now have to play a guessing game in order to figure out how they can help a struggling student who will not reach out for help.

“Students are lacking in emotional and social intelligence by years,” an anonymous WHS teacher said.

Teachers foster challenging and motivational learning environments because their job is not only to educate, but to inspire students to build a better future. COVID-19, however, changed the relationship between teachers and students, leaving teachers across the world with the same question in mind: How can they inspire students to want to learn again?

All in all, every aspect of school systems was affected by the shutdown–teachers, students, learning itself. The long-term effects of the pandemic are alive and real at not just WHS, but schools around the globe. School systems currently face a pandemic of their own, one where students are not interested in learning and teachers do not yet know how to help them.