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Clark is looking for an answer. He sits on a committee of teachers, students, parents, community leaders and local employers that is developing a "School First" contract. The details are still in the works, but the hope is that businesses that sign on will employ students for no more than 20 hours a week (Clark would like the limit to be 16) and will not let students work past 11 p.m. on school nights. Clark also wants employers to assign each student a "workplace mentor"--someone at work, maybe even the boss, who looks after the student's academic life, makes sure he or she is going to school on time and is making good grades, and who can help a student get reduced hours if need be. The initial response of business people has been positive, and Clark hopes School First will happen by the end of the year.
Elizabeth manages her 40 hours a week quite nicely. She's getting A's in all her classes; she keeps Friday nights free for her boyfriend, who, she says, "is my social life." And most Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, Elizabeth, her parents and her 12-year-old brother Conner find time to eat together as a family.
Elizabeth did have to sacrifice varsity field hockey. And earning so much money made her, at least for a while, rethink her college choices. While she once saw Meramec Community College as the "slacker way out," she actually considered spending two years of college there in order to continue teaching horseback riding. Her mother convinced her otherwise.
It's 8 p.m. Elizabeth hangs up her vest and bow tie. She's already finished her homework, so after dinner with her family, she plans to go to a friend's to watch movies and play video games. She's not sure what she would have done all day if she hadn't spent it working at Hollywood Video.
--A.G.