Here at Armuchee High School this year, many upperclassmen students have begun their journey of gathering real-world work experience early with the help of our Work Based Learning (WBL) program. One student in particular who has ventured into this program is Caylin Poole, a senior this year at AHS. Caylin is carrying out her WBL with Stretch Rome, a chiropractic and wellness center in downtown Rome. This opportunity has been great thus far for Caylin and she would definitely encourage others to participate in this program, as well. In fact, she said, “Work Based Learning is a great way to get hands-on experience that allows you to see what you do and don’t like.”
The WBL program has allowed Caylin to pursue a career option about which she is passionate. An athlete here at AHS, Caylin knew the importance of stretching already before getting into any sort of physical activity with her sports, but before her WBL, Caylin was unaware of the great significance that stretching and taking care of your muscles could have on you. Caylin said, “My mentor Kianna Smith originally pushed me to be a part of WBL so that I could get a better understanding of the importance and significance that stretching has on all different people.” Not only has WBL allowed Caylin to learn more in regards to her career field of interest, but it has granted her the opportunity to develop real-world skills.
With WBL Caylin has learned how to schedule appointments, take calls and talk to clients, as well overall learning more social and communication skills with patients. She said, “The most valuable skill I’ve learned so far with WBL is just how to communicate with the clients. I’ve learned to communicate with them on their limits while at the same time still learning about all the different muscle groups and their functions.” With WBL Caylin has been able to learn two skill sets at once: learning to better communicate with clients while still gaining more familiarity with stretching the muscles of the body.
WBL has something for everyone; there are hardly any limits to what students can do when it comes to this program. After high school, Cailyn is interested in pursuing a major in Psychology, and with WBL she was able to find a suitable option which she found both interest in and offered her the chance to still gain some knowledge with Psychology. Caylin said, “I want to major in Psychology, and with WBL I began working with Stretch Rome where I can learn about how Psychology relates to the physical body and not just the brain based on how certain feelings or stressors impact where you can carry stress in your body.”
WBL has given Caylin many opportunities to gain skills in a job that she couldn’t learn anyway else. So in your upcoming years of high school, maybe give a thought to trying WBL for yourself.
