Life of a student assistant

Life+of+a+student+assistant

Being a student assistant is a coveted job for Wilsonville High School students, but is the job as easy as it may first appear? Seniors Macy Carlson and Athena Lackides discussed their responsibilities as SAs. Macy Carlson SAs for Ms. Hanlon during her sixth period but she says she helps out with “all of her English classes with grading and copying.” Her favorite SA activity is making copies because “it’s really satisfying.” Athena Lackides is a student assistant for Ms. Shook’s sixth period biology class. “ I mainly grade her biology classes, but sometimes I’ll grade her anatomy classes too because I’ve also taken anatomy,” she says. Grading is an integral part of being an SA but it is also a cause of internal conflict. Macy’s favorite thing about grading papers is the power that holding a red pen for correcting gives her but she also “feels kind of mean” grading the students down. Grading provides an insight into the difficult choices and long hours that teachers have endure in and out of school. Athena would much rather “help teach the biology class,” than grade, but it takes a large burden off the teachers to help grade their papers. Being an SA can be difficult at times, but it provides assistants with an understanding of teacher’s everyday lives.