Summer Jobs

With the summer quickly approaching, one of our goals for our students is for them to find a summer job. All of the students part of the West Philly Hybrid X Team applied to WorkReady. It is a citywide online application for summer internships with various companies throughout Philadelphia. Maurice Williams of Philadelphia Academies helps tremendously with interview expos, resume writing, and providing excellent positions for our students. Septa, Parking Authority, Fleet Management, and many other companies talk highly of our students.

Yet a couple weeks ago, I was approached by Ms. Debby Brown at a reception at Saint Joseph's University. She manages the University City Swim Club in West Philadelphia. She needed lifeguards for the summer, and "I always like to hire local kids, because they work the hardest." Within a couple days, Justin, Daniel, and Michael walked over to start their training. Daniel said that he wanted to be a lifeguard but couldn't take the cold water. He is now training with Michael to become a receptionist/security greeter for the Swim Club. Justin didn't mind the cold water and passed both his written and water tests!

Below is a quick blog from Justin about his training. He came in on Saturday and was really happy. He handed me his letter of approval and was smiling.

It is nice to see Justin smile.

-Ms. R

Two days ago I walked into the University City Swim Club to see Ms. Debby Brown for a summer job as a lifeguard. I was nervous as hell as I walked to the swim club because I had never done lifeguard stuff in my life.

The application part of the lifeguard stuff was easy but as the swimming test came up I was still scared and nervous. The testing started off with fourteen lanes of breast stroke, side stroke and a couple other tests. The most difficult part of the test came next, and I had to do it in 80 seconds. The object of this test is to swim across one pool and then dive into a 12ft. 2in. pool, pick up something from the bottom of the pool, then come out of the pool and swim back across the pool. I did the test three times before I passed.

The next part of the test was the written part. This was kind of easy since it was multiple choice. The first time I took the test I failed it. I was mad with myself for the rest of the day. I got a book and went home and studied the book all night. The next day I went back to take the test again. This time, I passed the test with only one wrong answer. I was happy that I had passed the test and got a three year certification to be a lifeguard.

It is also good to know that I have a summer job.