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WORKS AND WORDS: Choosing your future
Students weigh the power of their choices
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| Sarah Whitney photo -- Keith Johnson, an eighth-grader at Black Hawk Middle School, writes "talent" on the overhead. Johnson thinks talent is a factor in a student increasing his or her education. | ||
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When you're young, it can seem like you don't have much control over your life. Everyone from your parents to teachers and coaches boss you around. They all have an opinion about what you should do with your life.
On May 5 and 6, members of the Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce and I presented the Choices interactive workshop to eighth-graders at Black Hawk Middle School.
The workshop shows students how much more control they have over their lives than they might realize and how their choices now will affect their lives in the future.
For example, out of a list of 30 items including birth date, appearance, friends and activities the students in Sara Burkemper's third-hour class decided they had some or complete control of 20.
"You do have choices," Warren County Ambulance Director Ralph Hellebusch told students in fourth hour after completing the exercise. "As you get involved in school things, those are choices you have control over."
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Soon those eighth-graders will decide what classes to take at Warrenton High School.
"That's where things start out, with small, itty-bitty choices," Burkemper said.
My partner, Warren County Superintendent John Long, and I told students how the classes they select now can affect what colleges they are accepted to, and what jobs they are qualified for.
When I asked students what they want to be when they get older, their answers were diverse, but most would require post-secondary education.
Devin, a blond-haired boy in the front, said he wants to be a professional football player. Hayley, a brown-haired girl in the back, plans to become a pediatrician. Evan wants to be an architect.
"How you spend your time now is going to affect your chances of becoming what you want," I told them.
Students completed an exercise in which they added up the amount of free time they have each week. Together we determined each student had roughly 69 hours of free time.
"That's more time than most of your parents work each week," I told them.
So if Devin wants to play pro football, he needs to have the self-discipline during his free time to practice instead of watching TV or doing something else, Long said.
Not just the students were surprised to learn how much free time they had. I was surprised when I calculated my free time.
When you get older, it can seem like you don't have much control over your life. Everyone from your boss, your family and your church seem to have an opinion about how you should spend your time.
To quote what Staff Sgt. Richy Kohler with the Missouri Army National Guard told the fourth-hour class: "The whole moral of this story is that real life sucks, but you have to live it anyway."
I would add: So you might as well make the choices now that will help you live it the way you want in the future.
Sarah Whitney is a staff writer and columnist for the Warrenton Journal. She can be reached at swhitney@yourjournal.com or 636-456-3481, ext. 225.
Want to volunteer?
To volunteer with the Warren County School District, call the central office at 636-456-6901.
To volunteer for a specific school, contact that building's principal.
Warrenton High School: Principal Jeremy Way, 636-456-6902
Black Hawk Middle School: Principal Stacy Ray, 636-456-6903
Rebecca Boone Elementary School: Principal Rebecca Parks, 636-456-6904
Warrior Ridge Elementary School: Principal Al Slusser, 636-456-6905
Daniel Boone Elementary School: Principal Bobbie Russell, 636-456-6906
Volunteer opportunities include working in the library, tutoring, working with the Parent-Teacher Association and other activities. According to state law, some volunteer opportunities may require a background check.
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