By Meghan McKellick
Poland Regional High School
The office is a very busy place and the wonderful ladies who work there day in and day out couldn’t possibly handle all of the dirty work by themselves. That is where student aides come in. As you peer in through the office windows, you find yourself scratching your head and wondering aloud, “What exactly do they do though?” Mainly, we sit around and chat with the office ladies and guidance counselors. We’re their guidance counselors. I’m a veteran student aide, three years and running, so trust me when I tell you, they could use the help.
A day in the life of a student aide is very demanding. Lounging in the comfy chairs, drinking tea, hitting Mrs. Wright up for chocolate, whew, I’m getting worn out just talking about it! In all seriousness though folks, we actually do work, despite what you may think. The usual tasks consist of doing the mail, filing college information, photocopying, preparing envelopes for mailings and answering the phones. Also any other random task that they ask you to do, like cleaning off the whiteboard, who does that?
After a brief conversation with our wonderful guidance secretary Mrs. Wright, I learned how she really felt about the student aide program. “I think it’s great!” she responded. Of course she does. She said how it’s really nice to have the help in the guidance office, and if she didn’t have us, her life would be much busier. Mrs. Dunn, our lovely attendance secretary had a slightly different view on the topic. “They can be a lot of work,” she said with a grin.
Overall, she feels that if the student stays focused and does what they need to do, it could be a really good experience for everyone; especially for the student if they want to get some kind of office job in the future.
I also talked with a few other fellow student aides, to get their opinion on the program. “It’s invigorating!” laughed senior Breanna Hart. In all seriousness here, folks, “It helps me to learn things about taking care of guidance because I hope to work in a guidance office someday. It’s a nice place to just go and chill for a while, too, to get away from my everyday schedule,” said Breanna.
Student aide may appear to be boring or just too complicated. I assure you, there is nothing complicated about student aide! If you’re one of those kids who wants a study hall, but NEVER has homework, (who does these days?) and doesn’t want to sit in a silent room with a bunch of other kids, staring at the walls, student aide is the place for you! Not only does it give you something to do, but you also get co-curricular or community service credit. Yippee!
So now you know. Do what you will with this information but remember, wherever there’s and un-licked envelope, or a paper that has no holes, we’ll be there, waiting to fulfill justice. Until next time, that’s another episode of:
THE STUDENT AIDE FILES!
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