CHICAGO (AP) - Many Chicago-area high school students have needed to pick up jobs amid the pandemic as essential workers, even as they try to complete their studies through remote learning.
Whether they are working to help out their parents who lost their jobs or means of income, or are just trying to save money, they are still students at the end of the day, still expected to participate in their online classes, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“My dad used to work 45 hours and now he can barely get 30 hours,” one Chicago Public Schools students wrote in an online petition seeking relief from the district’s grading policy for remote learning. “He doesn’t make enough for bills and food so I started to work two jobs of a combined 50 hours so I can help with the bills. I can’t even do homework.”
Another teen, 18-year-old Sadie Soto, works 30 to 35 hours at a Jewel-Osco in Avondale. She says the last thing she wants to do after a long day at work is e-learning.
“When I get home, I am utterly exhausted. I thought working at a grocery store would be easier, but it’s really, really physically demanding in a way I didn’t expect,” she said.
In addition to work and classes, Avery Martin keeps busy running miles to maintain her cross-country stamina. Martin works at Cafe Zupas, a suburban sandwich.
Since business has been slow, it allows her to do her schoolwork during downtime. She says, however, that learning without the structure of school has been more difficult.
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