Devin Weaver – Woodworking Co-Op

Finishing out my junior year of high school I did not know exactly what I wanted to do for my senior year. I knew I wanted to play volleyball in the spring, so that ruled out early graduation. When I heard about the co-op program from my guidance counselor, it got my attention. Going to school for two blocks, then going to your job for the rest of the workday sounded good to me, it’s like getting paid to miss school. After seeing all the pros and cons I decided to sign up for the Pathways2Success Cooperative Education class.

I currently work at New Holland Church Furniture. It is very convenient and nice because it is only about three minutes from the school. I was put in the finishing department where all the staining, finish coating, and most of the sanding happens. All the church furniture gets made and put together if need be, after that it comes to us where it gets stained, sanded, and coated. My duties there vary some. Most of my job is staining the church furniture, somedays I will help sand too. Occasionally, when we get slow I will help make the parts for the furniture.

At New Holland Church Furniture, the people are amazing. When I started working there I already knew a couple of people, however, when I started to get to know others I realized there were other great people there. When a team gets along together well they are going to do better than a team that does not get along well. The same goes for the workplace; if co-workers are also friends it is going to make things a whole lot better for the company and the work environment. I see that at New Holland Church Furniture, and I think it makes working a lot more enjoyable.

In the Pathways2Success Cooperative Education class, we learn more about the workplace and just life in general. We discuss and learn about subjects like resumes, interviews, health plans, and lots more. We also discuss our own jobs with the class. We talk about the good moments and the bad moments. If it was a bad moment we talk about how we could have changed it. All in all, Pathways2Success Cooperative Education is a great class that lets us experience going to work every day while learning about life after high school.