By: Dr. Jesse O. Bolinger
I grew up on a family farm five miles north of Creston and learned the value of hard work at an early age. When I was fourteen, I went to work at the Green Valley Area Education Agency as Part of the JTPA (Job Training placement Act) program and have worked ever since. Over the past several months, as I have worked to develop an internship program for high school students, I have thought a lot about the value of working while in high school. A recent article in USA Today made me wonder how our friends and neighbors here in Decatur County started their journey as young people.
I have been fortunate to get to know some wonderful individuals in Decatur County, so I asked a few of them how they got their start.
Strong Start
JoBeth Smith, Director of Human Resources at Decatur County Hospital, told me that “My first summer job was at the Dairy Queen. Even though my parents had instilled a sense of responsibility and work ethic into me by providing me with chores and babysitting opportunities, this job taught me how to work with the public and the true meaning of customer service. Work hours & job duties varied as well as types of employees, at the DQ. All which taught me that flexibility, willingness to learn and acceptance of others made the work more fulfilling! Plus you got to eat ice cream!”
When Freedom Racing Tool and Auto owner Tad Whittom was a teenager, he never would have imagined that he would run a successful business providing automotive specialty tools to consumers around the world. When asked about working a summer job in his younger days Tad responded that “Bucking hay bales is no fun. It motivated me to work hard toward a career that didn’t involve bucking hay bales.”
Shirley Kessel, retired middleschool science teacher and former director of the Graceland University AmeriCorps Youth Launch program, says that growing up on a family farm not only taught her the value of hard work but also taught her the value of service to others. “Growing up on farms in southern Iowa taught both my husband and me the work ethic of rural America. We have passed this on to our children and watched it blossom into careers and volunteer service to our communities.”
Providing quality customer service is essential in any job; however, it can be difficult for young people to gain customer service experience, or to understand that they are acquiring these skills. When I was a teenager, I was fortunate to meet Heidi Bell, before the opening of From the Ground, and when I moved to Decatur County in 2013 I ran into her again. After countless trips to From the Ground, I noticed something about Heidi, not only was she running a business, she was teaching her employees life skills.
When I approached Heidi about this article, she told me that “I have had the opportunity to work for a variety of employers since I officially started working away from our family farm at the age of 14. My first summer job experience was at a small local ice cream and food shop. My boss modeled hard work. Everyone was expected to pull their fair share of the workload. She cleaned the bathrooms, so it wasn’t beneath me to clean the bathrooms. She was detailed in her food preparations so I should be detailed in the ice cream treats that I prepared. She treated even the most difficult customers with respect, and she also wasn’t afraid to have fun with her customers. This was back in the day when waitresses heavily relied on their tips because we were making way less than minimum wage. What I took home for pay on most nights depended on how hard I worked and how that work was perceived by the public. The skills I learned from that first employer have helped me to be the entrepreneur and employer that I am today.”
Making Connections
Talking with these three individuals has reinforced my past life experience and the ideas surrounding the high school internship program I have been working to create in Decatur County. While some individuals may feel that summer employment opportunities for youth are limited in our county, I believe that opportunities exist for individuals that wish to seek them out. As Tad and Heidi may share with those who ask, starting a business takes a lot of work; however, that hard work can begin with a simple idea. For young people who want to work, having common sense, the desire and someone to mentor them can make a big difference.
Making connections between school and work can be difficult for students. Central Decatur and Lamoni Schools Superintendent Chris Coffelt did not necessarily know that he was developing a passion for education when he taught swim lessons as a teenager in Leon. Chris shared that “I just wanted to get a tan and a date.” He did not think about the impact he was having on the lives of the children he was teaching. Today, after being a teacher, principal and now shared Superintendent, Chris realizes that his summer employment experience may be the root of his love for education. Chris understands the importance of classroom-based learning but also knows that students can gain a lot by being in the community. “Making connections between the classroom and the real world is important, students need to understand that what they are learning today will help them tomorrow.”
Networking is a skill that can be taught at an early age. As work continues on the high school internship program, it has become clear to me that the value of this program will be the ability for students to gain basic skills such as customer service while building relationships and the start of a professional network. As I reflect on my own experience, and that shared by those quoted in this article, I want to encourage all youth in Decatur County to think about their future and how their current summer job, or a summer job they may hold in the future, can impact their future career.