Governor Gregoire announces April Student Employment Month

 Governor Gregoire announced April as being Student Employment Month for Washington State.

An open house reception will be held on April 28 from 2 to 4 p.m. in NSC 213 for all student workers.

"The reception is for our Centralia College on campus employees and supervisors," said Student Job Center Program Coordinator Joan Rogerson.

Food will be supplied, along with games and door prizes.

The college offers 200 student jobs on campus and 50 off campus.

"Probably about 30 to 50 jobs open up on campus during the summer. Some are financial aid based work study positions and others are for any students enrolled in six credits," said Rogerson. "We have jobs that meet everyone's needs."

Most of the fall to spring quarter jobs have been filled, and some of those jobs need to be re-applied for during the summer term.

"There are just so many things that students gain from this experience," said Rogerson. "They learn workplace habits, develop workplace skills and they can use their supervisor as a reference."

A variety of student jobs are offered on and off campus.

"They get to work with co-workers and develop those relationships and be part of a team," said Rogerson. "This also allows them to earn funds to supplement college expenses."

Some jobs offered include office assistant, radio and TV placement, caregiver, civil engineer assistant, teacher assistant, and reading and math tutors.

"This is my second day on the job, and I love it," said Alexa Hoover, 61, returning student from Chehalis. "I am a retired RN, and I am going back to school for accounting. I was really fortunate to get this job."

Hoover works as a part time office assistant in the Student Center.

"I work at the information desk and do general communications," said Hoover. "I enjoy the exposure to all the different people, and all the people I get to meet."

Although brand new as a student worker, Hoover is already impressed with the college.

"I was not really expecting the college to be what I discovered it was. There's just an abundance of enthusiasm and good will on this campus," she said. "And there is a lot of support and encouragement for older students, too."

With such a range of jobs offered, student workers have a large impact on the campus, faculty and staff.