Teen-Agers Earn While They Learn at CLU

While her friends are lounging in the warm summer sun at the beach, 16-year-old Sonia Mata is crunching numbers in her chemistry and algebra classes.

“I’m not jealous,” the Oxnard youth said Thursday, taking a break from her rigorous schedule. “I’ll have time for that later on.”

Sonia couldn’t care less about getting a tan: She’s more concerned about getting into college.

The Rio Mesa High School student is one of six teen-agers in a new work program being offered this summer as a supplement to Cal Lutheran University’s 50-student Upward Bound program. The employment aspect is being sponsored by Oxnard’s Summer Youth Employment and Training program.

In addition to their Upward Bound classes, the six students in the work program spend two hours each afternoon working at various on-campus jobs. They earn minimum wage, and are paid for both their time on the job and in the classroom.

“What we want to do is help gear the students toward thinking about careers,” said Bernadette Hernandez, assistant program director.

As with the other Upward Bound students, those in the work program live at the Thousand Oaks campus during the week.

Overall, the Upward Bound program encourages low-income students to go to college.

Upward Bound students are tracked academically through the school year and return to Cal Lutheran each summer until they graduate from high school.

The program’s counselors also guide the teen-agers through the intricacies of the college application process.

Cal Lutheran has operated the program for 13 years, but this is the first time some students have held down part-time jobs at the college and gone to class.

Sonia works in the admissions office each afternoon, performing various clerical tasks. Seventeen-year-old Alfredo Soto assists pool lifeguards each afternoon. And Rio Mesa senior Jorge Alfaro works in the college cafeteria.

All six students in the program were selected based on financial need. Although they will earn only about $150 during the five-week summer stint, they hope to walk away with more than just a few checks.

“It gives you an idea of what it would be like to be working and going to college,” Sonia said.

Alfredo, who also lives in Oxnard, said he enjoys the challenge of working and studying.

“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t here studying so hard, but this weekend I went home and got bored,” he said. “I missed the homework.”